Roommates
by Akaku-chan
Summary: Trouble always seems to find Akashi Seijuro, and that doesn't change as he's transferred to the pretentious Teiko Private High. With danger already brewing, Akashi's going to have to depend on his new roommate to help pull him out of trouble.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, I'm Akaku-chan. This is my first fanfic so go easy on me!

It's set as an AU and the main pairing is Akashi X Kuroko

All the rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter One, A New School.

_'I just don't know what to do with him anymore! That boy's a monster!' A woman cried into a phone._

_'Now, now,' a woman's consoling voice answered, 'he can't be that bad, he's only a child.' _

_'A child! Thirteen's barely a child! And I'm tired of him coming home looking as if he were run over by a car that then decided to come back and do it again just for kicks!' The woman practically screamed to the other end. Silence followed this outburst._

_'Well, what if he were to stop coming home then?'_

_'...Are you telling me to kill the boy?' the first woman asked in a fearful whisper._

_'Oh! Heavens no! I just thought maybe send him away, like a private school.'_

_'Private... school?'_

_'Think, his father has more then enough money, he could stay in dorm so he wouldn't have to come home untill holidays. there'd be a curfew so he can't run amok after hours, and if he does he'd be the school's problem, not yours._

_'But.. I'd have to convince his father... but he practically hates the boy! But I'm only a caretaker why would he listen to me? But then he could focus on work without having to worry about the boy... you know, this could work!' She finished her argument with herself and said, 'You, my dear, are a genius!_

_'I try,' came the reply._

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And that is the exact reason why at the age of sixteen, Akashi Seijuro was yet again packing his bag for the new school year, why he was not sure what this new school was like. Because, though it may have seemed like a good idea at the time, sending him to private school did not change anything at all. By the end of each year he was politely asked not to return for the following year. Though Akashi did request to have a private tutor, much to his expectations, his father declined.

'No son of my is going to be hidden away like a problem! You will attend school with other children your age! You are my son, not a coward!'

'That's not even the reason why you send me, you just don't want me here.' He muttered to himself as he packed.

Akashi was an interesting boy, though he would never exactly say he was attractive, with his red hair, and eyes that didn't match. One being red while the other was almost gold. he was of average height and weight, but the special thing about him was that he was quite intelligent and very observant. He could see things and read situations much faster then the average person. Though this did not help keep him out of trouble, it seemed like all he ever did was pick fights, but he didn't believe that, trouble just seemed to find him. And that was the reason he has been sent to yet another private school.

'Young Master Akashi~! It's time to get going! Your chauffeur's waiting!' His Caretaker yelled through his door.

'Oh no! Wouldn't want to keep him waiting!' He mumbled sourly under his breath, continuing to take his time.

Finally, not seeing any more ways he could continue to stall, he took one last glance around his room and left. Sighing he went down stairs and shot a dirty look at his Caretaker before he walked out the door. He was well aware that she was the reason he must leave before the start of every school year to get ready for a new school, a new room, in a new location, and the worst part, a new roommate. More then once his had asked to be moved into a different room, though he didn't do anything to him, it's the rumours that scare them.

'Sir?' A voice broke through his thoughts. 'Yes?' he said coming back to reality. 'You can get in, sir.' his chauffeur told him slightly worried, Akashi looked up and realized his chauffeur was holding the door open for him.

'Oh, yes, thank you.' He slid in, feeling quite foolish for letting his thoughts wander and distract him so easily.

His least favourite part about all this private school crap was definitely his roommate. Akashi Seijuro excels at most everything he does, but there just seems to be something missing when it comes to people.

He settled himself into his seat, looked out the window and began to dread what was coming ahead.

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A beautiful building stood over the horizon, standing high over head, shadowing the huge grounds that seem to stretch for miles, it truely was a grand school. Akashi hated it instantly.

'Sir, we have arrived' his chauffeur told him, breaking him out of his daze.

'Yes, thank you.' He got out of the car looking around uneasily. This school was huge! It must be another rich person school, he thought bitterly.

'Your bags, sir?' the driver offered.

'Oh, yes, just...' he looked around not actually aware of where to go.

'Hi there! Can I help you with your bag? Or maybe you need directions? This is such a big place you may just get lost I know it happened to me when I first got here! My mother was not impressed, no she was not! My sisters both made fun of me forever! I mean really! Just 'cause I got lost in such a big place!' A very excited person said, seeming to appear out of nowhere, it all came out in one big breath.

'Um, thank you... that would be nice...' the red-haired boy replied, a little taken aback, '_he's breathing so heavily! he really did say all that useless crap in one breath! This guy's an idiot, great.' _He glanced at the boy and noticed he was staring at him. 'Can I help you?' Akashi asked, confused with why this boy was staring at him so intently.

'Oh! Sorry for staring, it's just strange that you have yet to ask my name.'

'_Kind of blunt aren't we?' _He thought to himself. Akashi looked at the boy more closely. He was taller then himself by quite a bit, he would say about 6'2 roughly, his blonde hair fell just over his ears the left one being pierced, his golden eyes twinkled with youthful life, his smile was that of a model. He really was quite pretty.

'Anyways,' The blonde started, 'My name's Kise Ryouta, it's a pleasure to meet you.' He said with a smile that could blind anyone passing by.

'Charmed, I'm Akashi Seijuro.' He said with slight annoyance, something about that excited yet polite way of talking really ticked Akashi off.

'Well, no more wasting time chatting and chirping like a couple of birds! I'll take you to the office so you can figure out your room number! Then we can drop your stuff off and then I can give you a tour around the school! I've gone here forever, even though I only just started in the highschool division I still know the place as well as the back of my hand!' Kise rambled on, not giving Akashi time to tell him he didn't want him to escort him to the headmaster's office, nor did he want a tour of the school. All he manged to get in was an annoyed sigh.

He plastered a fake smile on his face, looked up at the blonde, 'Really, don't go out of your way, I already have my key and my room number, special arrangements have been made so I can go straight to my room.'

'Oh... Okay! I'll take you right to your room then!'

'That's not what I-' But his plea for Kise to understand was cut off before it even left his mouth, Kise had taken the note with his room number on it right out of his clenched hand, looked at it and had already started walking quickly in the direction of the dorms. With all of Akashi's bags.

'That asshole...' He growled through clenched teeth, shot a dirty look over his shoulder at his chuckling driver and ran after the much taller boy.

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Now this was the part that concerned Akashi the most, Kise had said he knew the place like the back of his hand, but Akashi wasn't even sure Kise knew what the back of his hand even looked like. They wound through corridor after corridor aimlessly.

'Where the hell are we going!?' Akashi asked getting annoyed now.

'To the dorms, silly!'

Akashi could have strangled him. 'Are you sure we aren't lost?' He asked, trying not to sound angry.

'Oh look! It's Aomine-chii~! Let's go say hi!' He completely avoided the question as he flew over to a tall dark skinned man with a dark blue hair.

'Oi, Kise, ya lost again or somethin'?' He inquired with a slight drawl.

'Oh, Aomine-chii! You're so mean! I haven't seen you in months and that's the greeting I get!? You could give Midorima-chii a run for his money!'

'Hey! I'm sorry okay? Don't compare me to _that._' He said with a look of hurt on his face. 'Eh? who's this?' He asked just noticing the red-haired boy, looking Akashi up and down.

'Akashi Seijuro' He answered before the blonde could. 'And to whom do I owe the honour?'

'Aomine Daiki, It truly is an honour.' He replied, matching Akashi's sarcastic drawl with one of his own.

Kise, terribly reading the situation, had assumed the best. 'Oh, I'm so glad you two are getting along! Now, Aomine-chii! Which way to the dorms?'

A blank look passed over both Aomine and Akashi's faces, He really did get lost.

'Down that hallway, then take a left, then go up the stairs labeled dorms.' He seemed to have a lot of patience for the over-active blonde.

"Ooh, thank you Aomine-chii~!' He gave him a hug and turned to leave.

'Wait!' Akashi turned to see a group of girls come out from behind doors and vases and other stuff people shouldn't be able to hide behind. 'Can we have your autograph? Please?'

'Uh oh,' Kise said with a small smile, 'They found me. We'll have to run.' Before Akashi even had time to ask what he meant, Kise had already grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the hall with surprising strength and speed.

'Hey! Get off me!' They heard the sacrificed Aomine shout. 'I'm going to kill you Kise!'

'Oh, just ignore him... he'll be fine... He trailed off, looking as if he didn't really believe that. 'Oh! Look! We're here!' Kise started bouncing on the balls of his feet. 'Go on, open the door let's see your room!'

'Okay, okay, just calm down, I'm doing it,' he went to unlock the door, noticing it wasn't locked, his stomach flipped over, that could only mean one thing. '_Damn, I didn't want to meet my new roommate right away! Why else would I agree to coming to school so early! Now he has even more time to decide to switch rooms. I bet we won't even get to the first break before he leaves.' _ With a sigh, he opened the door and stepped in. He looked around didn't see anyone and sighed relaxing slightly.

'Weird, I wonder why the door was unlocked if no one's here.' Kise said, slightly confused. Akashi shrugged, not really caring. 'Well, why don't I help you unpack?' The blonde boy asked politely.

'I guess... since there's no one... here...' Akashi's voice trailed off, looking at the bed in the left side corner of the room, where a boy was sitting watching the two other boys intently.

'Hello, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, I believe I'm your new roommate.'

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That's all! Tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Guys~! I want to thank you all for all the wonderful support I got from chapter one~! To those of you who left reviews, thanks, they were really awesome! And thanks to all those who followed me and the one's who put me in your favourites! I hope you all enjoy chapter two!

Once again, the rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Chapter Two, The Roommate.

'Hello, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, I believe I'm your new roommate,' He kept his eyes on Akashi as he spoke.

'Oh! Kuroko-chii!' Kise exclaimed 'This is perfect! I hadn't realized this was your room, maybe if you told me these things I could have been telling him great things about you!'

Kuroko's eyes drifted over to where Kise stood, 'Oh, Kise-kun, I didn't notice you.'

A look of over-exaggerated hurt appeared on his face. Though Kuroko ignored the fake hurt as his eyes played back on Akashi.

Akashi, who had spaced out trying to figure out how he hadn't noticed Kuroko in the first place, realized the blue-haired boy staring at him with interest. 'I'm Akashi Seijuro,' he said for the third (and hopefully last) time that day. He watched Kuroko, wondering why he was staring at him. 'Well, I hope we can get along...' He tried to smile, though it come out looking as if it pained him to be happy and welcoming.

'Yes, I do as well,' his eyes traveled slowly down Akashi's body and back up again, settling once more on his eyes. 'You have interesting eyes,' he finally said.

Akashi spoke through clenched teeth, 'I am well aware of that. Thank you.' Though it seemed lost on the other boy that Akashi was annoyed, 'I assumed you did, considering you most likely have come in contact with a mirror at one point.' He spoke with a calm voice, his eyes not straying from the other boy eyes. Akashi's eyes flashed dangerously, but said nothing at this. Kuroko raised his eyebrow ever so slightly, but also said nothing.

'Alright! I think you two will be fine on your own so... I'll just go...' Kise tried to slip out unnoticed, but was caught by Akashi's better-then-average vision, 'You're leaving? I thought you wanted to help me unpack.' Slight threat laced in his words. The truth was that Akashi didn't want help, he just didn't want to be alone with the other boy. But before Kise could give in to the deathly glare, Kuroko stood up, 'Kise-kun, you can leave, I'll help Akashi-kun unpack.'

'Oh, okay... thanks! Bye Akashi, take good care of him Kuroko-chii~!' He scurried out of the room with that terrifying glare etched into his mind.

_'Shit, now I'm stuck with him.' _He thought bitterly. 'Don't worry about it, I can do it myself.' He studied the now standing boy through a sidelong glance, seeing the he was shorter then him by just a few inches. He had soft, light-blue hair that fell easily to the left, his skin was pale, looking as if it would shine if caught in the sunlight, and his shockingly blue eyes sat perfectly on his blank, unreadable face.

'It's all right, unless you don't want me going through your stuff.' Kuroko said watching the taller boy's movements. Akashi had his back to him, sensing the other boy's eyes on him, he still refused to turn around, he didn't like the way Kuroko stared at him. Akashi shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure how to answer. Finally he gave in and turned around. He jumped in surprise, not realizing how close Kuroko was to him, they were practically touching nose-to-nose.

'D-do you need something?' Akashi stammered, annoyed with himself for letting his voice shake.

'No,' Kuroko replied, Akashi stared at him for a few moments before saying anything. 'Why are you standing so... close?' Akashi tried to sound casual then swore under his breath knowing he hadn't accomplished it.

'Am I?' Akashi thought he could see just the slightest bit of amusement in his eyes.

_'Is he amused? That bastard, he's practically mocking me! I really wish I could poke out those pretty eyes.' _He stopped for a moment realizing what just went through his head,_ 'Pretty!? Did I, Akashi Seijuro just admit to thinking something was pretty? Not just something, but someone?._ He pondered this for a moment _'Well, I didn't say it aloud,' _he thought dryly,_ 'Like that makes it better.' _And then to add fuel to the fire, he felt his face heating up.

'Are you okay, Akashi-kun?' Kuroko asked his mouth twisting subtly upwards. It takes a highly trained eye to read Kuroko's emotions, and he liked it that way.

Akashi looked away, at a loss for words. Not that this boy was the reason for his blush, Akashi was simply raised to believe that an attraction for anything or anyone was considered weak, much less another boy! His father would kill him if he dared to even use the word _cute_ while speaking of another boy. 'Yes, I'm quite fine, thank you. Now if I may,' he went to step to the side, but tripped on one of his bags and fell backwards.

**Thump!**

'Ow...' a small voice mumbled under Akashi, once the red-haired boy's vision cleared he saw the smaller boy underneath him.

Akashi voice caught just as he was about to apologize, there was something about the boy sprawled on the floor underneath him that stopped him in his tracks. He looked so..defenseless!

'Ow..' Kuroko repeated opening his eyes, he staring directly into Akashi's eyes. 'You're kind of heavy,' he breathed.

'S-sorry, I didn't mean to, I swear.' Akashi said, clearly panicking.

'I know, it's fine.' He spoke in the same breathless voice making Akashi worry that he's heavier then the other boy let on.

'I'll just get off... wait.. you were in front of me, and I fell backwards, how are you under me?' he asked giving him a quizzical look.

'Well, I saw you falling so I went to catch you but I got us all turned around and I guess this happened.' He shrugged, like it didn't matter.

Thinking about it now Akashi did feel something and thought he saw a flash of blue. He fixed Kuroko with a accusatory stare. 'Why did you try catch me?'

Kuroko was confused. 'Why not? You were falling, it was the decent thing to do.'

'Nonsense! People don't do things to be "nice" They do things in order to get something in return.' Akashi said matter-of-factly.

Kuroko stared at him in silent consideration. 'No, I just didn't want you to hurt yourself.' He said evenly.

Akashi looked at him for a few moments. 'Okay, say that is the case, why the hell would you try to catch me? you're smaller then me and by the looks of it, not very strong!'

'No, I have the strength of a baby bird' He said with a straight face.

Akashi stared at him, and with no warning, started to laugh. His shoulders shaking, his head falling right into Kuroko's shoulder, he was laughing so much that his stomach hurt, but he didn't care, he hadn't laughed like this in ages. Shortly Kuroko couldn't help but join in. Both of their body shaking with uncontrollable laughter. Neither of them had realized they were still on the floor.

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Aomine Daiki walked down the halls of the school cursing Kise, and thinking about the boy he had met only hours before. He could tell from the first meeting, that he'd have to work really hard to get himself to like the boy. From the way that he obviously looked down on him, to the way he seemed to sneer, and drawl every word with a sarcastic twine as if he honestly believed everyone was wasting his time. He reminded him of someone, he just couldn't remember who.

Hearing a noise, he looked up to see one of his friends from middle school. As he went to go talk to him, he realized he was already talking to someone else, and they were standing quite close to each other. Which is always concerning, considering Aomine's friend dwarfs everyone who he stands next to.

Standing at 6'10 Murasakibara Atsushi was the tallest person on the school grounds. Though his size didn't reflect his personality, He was constantly eating some kind of junk food, he slacks off during school, sometimes it seems like he's asleep more often then he's awake. But despite all that, everything seems to come easy to him. He's good at sports, gets good grades and even though he's not really all that likeable, he's quite popular.

Aomine tried to leave, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on, but the smaller one noticed him. Staring at him gave his location away to the giant. Murasakibara looked behind him to see his old friend standing there trying to blend in with the shadow behind him.

'Mine-chin? What's up?' He asked in his childish drawl.

'Ah, Murasakibara, nice to see ya. How ya been, big guy?' He asked, trying really hard not to sound awkward.

'Fine, I guess, I was forced to come to school early, something about if I want to sleep all day I have to do it where my family can't see me wasting my life away.' A small smirk slid on to his face.

'Ahem,' the boy cleared his throat behind Murasakibara, 'Are you going to introduce me, or just continue pretending I don't exist?

'Oh,' he feigned surprise, 'I forgot you were here, Muro-chin. Mine-chin this is Muro-chin.'

_'Muro-chin?' _Aomine thought, _'He must be important.' _Murasakibara only added the "chin" at the end of your decided nickname if he thought highly of you, the one's he considered his friends.

'Atsushi, that's not my name.' He scolded, but was beaming all the same.

'Atsushi? Yer using his first name? Who the hell are you?' He hadn't meant to sound rude, but sometimes he couldn't help it.

'I'm Himuro Tatsuya, I'll be going into my second year of high school here.' His voice was kind and leveled.

'Me and Muro-chin were just talking, do you need something?' he stared at him obviously trying to send him some kind of message, but Aomine couldn't catch whatever it was supposed to be.

'So.. how do you know each other?' It wasn't like Aomine to be curious, but it was different with Murasakibara.

'Oh, you know, we met at the end of last year, we've been talking, became friends and all that...' He trailed off looking away from Aomine.

'Atsushi! Are you ashamed of me?' Himuro looked offended and slightly amused. 'Me and Atsushi met at the end of last year like he said, but we started going out during the summer.'

Aomine looked slightly shocked at this news, but as Murasakibara turned away blushing slightly he regained his composure, 'That's cool, good job, big guy.' Murasakibara looked over at him and gave a small smile.

'Ah! Cute!' Himuro yelled out of nowhere. 'Isn't he just the cutest!?' He wrapped his arms around the much taller boy's neck and kissed him full of the mouth. Aomine was taken aback, scary sure, but cute? Never a word he would use to explain the giant. Though Murasakibara didn't seem to mind, as he had wrapped his arms around the smaller and started kissing him back.

Aomine quietly crept away thinking of going to visit his close friend, Kuroko Tetsuya. He'd been friends with the smaller boy since the beginning of middle school, when they met they had clicked instantly, and he's not ashamed to admit they went out for a while but called it off, worried it wasn't working and didn't want to damage their long standing friendship. But that didn't stop the slight crush and the fact he was ridiculously overprotective. He just wanted Kuroko to find the right person, but both of their friends secretly knew there was no way in hell Aomine would ever give his approval.

He walked down the dorms looking for the right room when he bumped into someone, knocking the smaller boy down. 'Eh, You okay Sakurai?' he stuck out a hand to the boy.

'Sorry! I wasn't looking I didn't mean to walk into you! Sorry!' He bowed, tears in his eyes.

'Whatever, don't worry and stop sayin' sorry. God,' He walked past him towards the room he knew to be Kuroko's, Sakurai following him apologizing quietly.

He walked up to Kuroko's door opening it he walked in, 'Hey, Tetsu, I was wonderin' if you wanted-' he stopped looking down at the sleeping figure of Kuroko on the ground underneath another boy, a certain red-haired boy. He made his decision, he didn't like Akashi Seijuro.

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Kuroko woke up to the sound of a door closing. He looked around but there didn't seem to be any disturbance in the room. His eyes drifted to the boy lying on top of him. Peaceful sleep on his damp face, Kuroko paused for a moment worried that the other boy was crying, but feeling his own face made him think he laughed himself into tears. He smiled, he hadn't laughed like that in ages and this boy was the one that made him.

There was something strange about this boy, the way he laughed barely able to hold himself up as if he didn't laugh often. The way he noticed him sitting on his bed even know he didn't want to be noticed, and when Kuroko doesn't want to be noticed, you don't notice him. It's just a gift he was born with, at first he never tried to be unseen it just happened, his mother would be calling him not realizing he was standing right next to her, they called attendance, and started to write him down as not present until he would stand up and say loudly, 'I'm Kuroko Tetsuya.' it saddened him, but he got use to it. But every now and then he would purposely hide, fade into the background. But this boy, this Akashi saw him even though he was hiding.

Said boy had started to stir, squirming against the smaller boy muttering. Kuroko couldn't help but think of how cute he was.

His sleepy looking eyes fluttered opened taking in the view under him. 'Hi.' Kuroko said suddenly at a loss for words. Beautiful, watchful eyes staring straight into his own, making him feel exposed, something he's never felt before, just as people can't see him when they finally do they then have a hard time trying to read him. 'Hey.' Akashi mumbled sleepily, he buried his head in Kuroko's shoulder as he stretched out the rest of his body. Kuroko stayed where he was, feeling heat rising into his face, he stopped for a minute. '_Why is my face so hot all of the sudden? I can't be blushing... no one's seen me blush in years...' _He thought to himself. 'Um, did you sleep well?' he finally stammered out lamely.

'Huh? Oh yes, I guess. Thank you, Te-Te-Tetsuyaa~' He yawned widely.

The blush only got thicker on his face as he heard his first name being thrown out so casually. 'Pardon? What did you just say?' The blue-haired boy asked, he wasn't sure why he asked him to repeat himself. He heard him perfectly well the first time.

'I said, oh yes, I guess. Thank you, Tetsuya.' He answered matching what he said word for word. He seemed to like doing everything perfectly right.

'Oh, um... okay... you're welcome...' he finished lamely.

'Oh, I think I'll get off now.' Now it was Akashi's turn to blush.

Kuroko, then realized he was still underneath the bigger boy. 'Oh, uh, yeah.' he breathed.

Akashi sat up stretching his arm above his head, Kuroko watched his flexing biceps, noting that Akashi obviously took good care of his body.

Akashi looked down and realized that sitting on top of Kuroko looked worse then when he was lying down. He finally slid off rubbing the cramps in his legs. He seemed to be thinking then obviously coming to an decision stuck out his hand like the perfect gentleman.

Taking the hand Kuroko got back to his feet. 'So, what do you want in return?' Kuroko asked bluntly.

'What do you mean?' Was the reply

'You told me you don't help someone unless you get something in return, and you helped me up.' Kuroko explained logically.

'I don't want anything, I was just returning the favour, even know it obviously wasn't going work you still tried to catch me and that counts for something. I also never actually said I was one of those people, but for future reference, I am.' Akashi answered calmly.

Kuroko smirked his hidden smirk. _'This guy tries so hard to be hateful that it's just a mixture of cute and sad.' _

'Have you seen around the school? If not I can give you a tour, that way Kise-kun doesn't have to do it and you won't have to deal with him anymore than necessary.' His voice was uncaring but there was slight hope in his features, barely noticable of course, but still there.

Akashi stared at him for a good long moment before he answered. 'Alright, just because you look so hopeful.'

He walked out of the room unaware of the shock that he left behind him.

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Well that's all! I hope you enjoyed chapter two!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey~! Akaku-chan here~! Thank you so much for all the support! I'm having such a great time writing this~!And it's even better to know that some people might actually be joying this. So with out further ado, I give you, Chapter Three!

But first things first. As you know, The rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Chapter Three, Teiko Private High.

'And that ends the tour of Teiko Private High,' Kuroko told Akashi after they had made it all the way down to the grounds. 'Impressed?'

Akashi looked at the beautiful grounds with slight disinterest, 'Nothing new.' He answered finally.

Kuroko was taken aback, no one was unimpressed by the grounds, they were magnificent! With lush gardens that stretched into a beautiful hideaway for those who want to do homework in peace, or even those who wanted to slip away with their partners for some quiet privacy. The grounds themselves that seemed to go on for miles, where the younger children can play without disrupting their seniors. The beautifully paved walkway where you are granted the pleasure of strolling under the cherry blossoms, or if that doesn't appeal to you, then perhaps, one of the many other kinds of trees that the school had shipped, then planted around the school. Or the glorious fountain the stood proudly in the gardens. there was nothing unextraodinary about the grounds! Any ordinary person would be amazed. But then again, Akashi Seijuro wasn't an ordinary person.

Akashi was the person that just awhile before had read the emotions of the always impossible to read Kuroko Tetsuya. Examining him more closely, Kuroko got the impression that to this particular boy, the grounds really were nothing special.

'Well... I like them...' Kuroko mumbled, not understanding why he felt slightly put out.

Akashi turned to look at him. 'I think they're beautiful. Just.. nothing new. Better then most, and the tour guide's nice as well, which gives it points.' He gave a small smile.

Kuroko's heart skipped a beat, he returned the smile with a rare one of his own. 'Have you been to other private schools before?' He asked, noting the slight discomfort that flashed through Akashi's eyes, '_Must be a sore subject,' _he mentally told himself, so as not to make the same mistake again.

'Um, yeah, I've been to a few...' He mumbled in reply.

Kuroko regretted asking. The sad look on Akashi's face pulled at his heart strings. 'Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything... It's none of my business.'

Akashi's face relaxed. 'It's alright, don't worry about it, I just don't like talking about it.' His voice was soft, but sounded sad all the same.

'Well, why don't we head inside and unpack the rest of your stuff?' Kuroko asked, worried that he damaged his friendship before it had even began.

'Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea, and Tetsuya... don't be worried, I'm fine.' He searched the smaller boy's face reading the worry perfectly.

Again! Kuroko was shocked, for the second time that day he easily figured out what Kuroko was feeling, never before could anyone read Koroko's emotions, just like his presence his emotions were completely invisible.

Kuroko stared at Akashi in awe, 'Um... Akashi-kun...' He didn't finish, not really knowing what to say.

'It's in your body movements. Most people show it in their faces when they're feeling a particular emotion, but you, you show it a different way, I could tell instantly tell when I met you. I've met a lot of business men. They all try to hide their emotions when doing business. I have good eyes so I learned a lot.' He said this all quite matter-of-factly.

'How did you...'

'How did I know you were going to ask that? Simple, I noticed you looked surprised when I told you that you looked hopeful earlier. So I watched you as you gave me the tour and as soon as I told you not to be worried about me, you got the same look as before. You're obviously not use to people reading your emotions.' He glanced at Kuroko, wondering if he was going to get mad.

Kuroko stared at the cunning boy in front of him, at a lost for words. He wasn't mad, but he wasn't particularly happy either. Unlike his presence, he liked the fact that people couldn't read his emotions, it scared people, so they never tried to upset him.

'It's okay, I understand if I upset you, I do that often. People usually find me off-putting, or in other words, unlikable.' He said all this with a casual voice, but his eyes told a different story. They flickered with a sadness that seemed to have been there for years.

Kuroko looked into those sad eyes feeling a mixture of emotion. Without even thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around Akashi, pressing his face into the red-haired boy's shoulder, he mumbled to him, 'It's okay, Akashi-kun you didn't upset me. I was just surprised, and I like you so you don't have to worry about people telling you that you're unlikable. 'Cause, uh... I'll beat them up if they do!' He looked directly at Akashi as he finished, a fire burning in his eyes.

Akashi looked down at the boy, slightly surprised by the hug and slightly amused at the statement. 'You don't need to do that, it's fine...' His voice shook with emotion. 'Ahem,' he cleared his throat, regaining his composure, 'we should go finish unpacking like you said earlier.'

Kuroko nodded, then realizing his situation, he let go of Akashi, his face burning slightly. 'Um... yes, let's go...' He turned to leave, walking straight into another boy.

'Sorry! Oh my God! I'm so sorry!' The young mushroom-topped boy bowed deeply, 'I am so sorry! Please forgive me! Sorry!'

Kuroko shuffled his feet uneasily, 'it's alright, don't worry about it, Sakurai-kun'

Akashi examined the boy, he was about as tall as Akashi, he had short brown hair that was just a slight shade lighter then his large tearful eyes. he had a frail body with bad posture, if his skin wasn't so pale he'd look like a giraffe's leg. Akashi concluded his examination with a small smile.

'Oh! I'm sorry!' Said the giraffe boy, turning towards Akashi, 'I'm Sakurai Ryo!' He bowed deeply again.

'Akashi Seijuro, a pleasure.' He said, trying and failing not to sound sarcastic.

But if Sakurai heard the sarcasm he chose to ignore it, staring at Akashi intently for a moment, he then turned towards Kuroko and said, 'Aomine was looking for you, Kuroko-kun.'

'Oh... what does he want?' He asked, sounding tired all of the sudden.

'Why don'tcha ask me yourself, Tetsu,' Aomine walked into the light, marching right up to Kuroko. He put his arm across Kuroko's shoulders. 'How ya doin'? I haven't see ya since the spring, and ya haven't even tried to find me. I'm hurt Tetsu, hurt.' He said all this while, keeping a firm grip on Kuroko's shoulder.

Akashi watched Kuroko shuffle his feet as he spoke to the older boy. He raised an eyebrow, understanding instantly that Kuroko was uncomfortable.

'Daiki, I believe Tetsuya would like you to let him go.' He said, watching for a reaction.

Aomine stopped when he heard the new boy use his first name, his face lowered into a scowl. 'If Tetsu had a problem he'd tell me himself. See, unlike you, I've known Tetsu since we were little kids.' His scowl rose into some sort of smug sneer, 'Ya know what, I think you should just leave now,' he gave a mock wave, 'see ya.'

Akashi's eyebrows went up to his hairline 'Excuse me?'

'What, did I hit a nerve?' His smirk widened.

'Oh no, that's not it,' Akashi's voice picked up his usual snide tone, 'you were just speaking so unclearly, I thought prehaps you might have had something stuck in your throat.'

And with that he grabbed Kuroko's hand and pulled him away from the shocked teen and walked into the school, 'You're friends with him?' Akashi asked, his back to the younger boy.

Kuroko, who was staring at the older boy in wonder, shook himself out of his daze. 'I was.. am, I...' He sighed, how was he supposed to explain Aomine to his new friend?

'Whatever, I guess I should apologize, since he's your friend...' his voice trailed off as if apologizing was the last thing he wanted to do.

'No... it was kinda funny...' His smile was missed by Akashi, who still had his back to him.

Akashi turned to face him, 'Listen, I don't care if he was or is your friend. If you don't want someone to hold you, then you make sure you tell them to let you go,' he gave Kuroko a stern look. 'What if something happened? What if someone held you down? What would you do then? At least tell them no! Don't make yourself an easy target!'

'I didn't.. I.. Aomine-kun wouldn't hurt me!' He shot back lamely.

'I'm just saying! You never know! Speak up sometimes! Do you enjoy make those around you worry?!' Akashi's voice hitched in his throat, why was he so mad? He hasn't even known the boy a day!

'Did I worry you, Akashi-kun?' Despite the fact that Akashi was mad, Kuroko couldn't help but smile slightly at the blush creeping up Akashi's face.

'That- that's not the point! Just.. be more careful!' He glared at Kuroko, annoyed that he was right.

'Oh well,' Kuroko said, trying not to smile, 'Let's just go back to our room now.

Akashi agreed, and they made their way back to their room in silence.

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Aomine glared at the two retreating boys. '_I really don't like that boy.' _He thought annoyed.

'Aomine, are you okay?' Sakurai asked concerned.

'Huh? I'm fine,' he looked down at the frail boy's concerned face. _'Why's he so worried? What a freak.' _

'But you look mad...' His voice trailed off, scared of the glare Aomine just gave him.

'I'm fine.' He was about to say more, but he was cut off by the familiar clicking sound a pair of glasses make as you readjust them. He turned in slight dread knowing what was about to come.

'Aomine,' said a stiff voice in what most likely was supposed to be a greeting. 'I do hope you aren't chasing Kurko around again.' He glared at him from over his glasses.

To be fair, it wasn't really a glare, Midorima Shitaro just always looked angry.

'Ah, Midorima. Nice to see ya too, how've ya been?' He said avoiding the question.

Midrioma sniffed disapprovingly. 'How have I been? I'll tell you how I've been.'

_'Uh oh, what have I done?' _Aomine thought, noticing his mistake much too late.

He cleared his throat, preparing himself for the rant about to come. 'I've been horrible. I've had possibly the worst summer you can dream of! Not only was Cancer under the third spot for a good half of it! I've had nothing short of an incurable headache! I tried all the remedies I know! Which includes drowning, burning, and pushing of a Goddamn cliff! I even threatened to get a restraining order! But no! It just returned, day after day! But you see, Aomine, this is why you don't feed animals, because then they'll just keep coming back for more! And I, well I made that mistake! I just thought maybe I would indulge him for half a second, but no! He get's the wrong impression and just decides we're going to spend the rest of the Goddamn summer together!' He was breathing heavily after the earth-shaking rant.

Aomine was confused, but only for a moment, because just as he was about to ask about the headache, it popped out at him, literally.

'Shin-chan! I found you!' Said a black-haired boy, popping out from behind a bush 'What were you talking about? Was it our wonderful summer together? Or perhaps the magical ki-' he didn't get the chance to finish the sentence on the account of Midorima's hand slamming against his mouth, muffling his words.

'That's enough, Takao' Midirma hissed in his ear.

Aomine raised a questioning eyebrow. 'Sorry, Takao, I didn't catch that last bit there, a magical what?' An amused glint in his eye revealed that he already knew the answer.

'Anyways,' Midorima said, clearing his throat, keeping a firm hand on the now slightly purple Takao. 'Why are you pouting? Did Kuroko turn you down, again?' As soon as Midorima saw the flicker in Aomine's eyes, he knew that he had hit the nail on the head.

'No...' He replied with what was supposed to be an uncaring voice, but sounded more like a smile child who's favourite toy gotten taken away.

'I thought as much... you should really just get over him, this is kind of pathetic.' He shook his head at the slightly shorter boy.

But before Aomine could snap a good insult back something occurred to him. 'You tried to push Takao off a cliff?' He was afraid to know the answer.

'Yes, I was not lying about any of it. He dragged me to go hiking. Yes, hiking of all things! And Me, Midorima Shintaro, of all people!'

At this Aomine had to nod, Midorima plus hiking, not gonna happen.

'So, anyways. He was dragging me up the mountain and when he finally decided we could take a break to look over the horizon, I pushed him.' He spoke with no guilt, none at all.

'But... he's right there.' Aomine pointed out, not at all surprised by the answer.

'Unfortunately, he somehow knew what I was planning and grabbed on to the tree before he fell, thus he did not die.' He sighed heavily, as if recounting the story of Takao living was a sad reminder of something that could have been great.

'What about the drowning and the burning...?'

'Ah, the drowning. See, when he brought me to the beach I pushed him off the dock. Unfortunately, the Lifeguard saw and pulled him out. And for the burning, he had tried to make me bake sweets with him so I waited until he opened the oven and shoved his head in. But as it turned out, Takao is an idiot and forgot to turn the oven on.' He shook his head in disgust.

'Okay... and the restraining order...?'

'I don't know what happened that time. I just know he said something to the officer I was talking to, then he got away free.' At this Midorima took off his glasses to clean them and rubbed his eyes. As if it was his last ditch effort to get rid of the "headache" and it really pained him that it didn't work.

'Uh... Okay... by the way... I think you're suffocating him.' Aomine pointed at the now blue Takao.

'Oh... I guess I am...' He reluctantly let him go. Takao looked up at Aomine grinning. 'It was fun! Shin-chan really enjoyed himself!' His eyes sparkled happily as if it didn't matter that Midorima just admitted to trying to kill him, on several different occasions.

'That's good... I think... Um... So... Tetsu has a new friend.' He glanced at Midorima, wondering what he thought of this.

'Naturally, He is a teenager after all, I would hope he was making friends. I assume it's this "Akashi Seijuro" I've heard so much about.'

Aomine was surprised. 'You've heard about him? How? Oh...' And in unison they both said 'Kise.'

Midorima nodded, 'He's been texting me none-stop for the last four to five hours.' He pushed his glasses up in obvious irritation.

'Ah, so what do ya think?' He asked, looking anywhere but at Midorima.

'I don't care.' He said bluntly, 'I'm not too fond of Kuroko.'

Aomine sighed, he should have known, Midorima doesn't really care one way or another what his friends are doing.

'Come on, Shin-chan, we should go see who your new roommate is.' Takao said, grabbing Midorima's arm.

'I hope it's not you again.'

'Ah, Shin-chan, you're so cute,' He patted the green-haired boy on the back. 'Let's go now.' He grabbed Midorima's hand and pulled him towards the building, he winked at Aomine as he walked by. 'I told the officers that Shin-chan was a tsundere, they believed me, that's how I got out of the restraining order.' Takao whispered.

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Well, that's all, I really liked writing for Midorima. So be warned, He'll be back.

Also I like to take a minute to thank my good friend, K.K. Kid for helping me out so much. And if you like Yu Yu Hakusho or Ouran High School Host Club, you should check out K.K. Kid~!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Are you all excited for KnB season two?! I decided to post my chapter early to celebrate! So here you go, chapter four~!

The rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Chapter Four, The Locker Room Threat.

The alarm went off, waking the two sleeping occupants. Akashi sat up, he looked over at the bed in the left side of the room, much to his surprise, his roommate, Kuroko Tetsuya was still in bed. Every morning for the three days that Akashi's been to Teiko has been the same so far, Akashi would wake up to Kuroko rushing into the bathroom disappearing from sight, he would then take a long shower and stay in there for another few minutes then come out as if it was entirely normal. So it did surprise Akashi that he was still in bed, but it only took a minute for Akashi to realize why it was that Kuroko didn't want to be seen.

'Tetsuya, that is the worst bedhead I have ever seen.' Akashi said, looking at the tousled mess sitting on top of what must have been Kuroko's head.

Kuroko rubbed his bleary eyes, as he mumbled to Akashi. 'Yes, I've been told that I look like I spent all night trying to cosplay as some sort of anime character, but fell asleep in the process.'

'I see... alright then... I'm going to go shower.' As he got up to leave he felt Kuroko's eyes burning into the back of his head. He's gotten use to the Kuroko staring at him all the time, but it still kind of unnerved him, but only a little.

Grabbing his clothing, he went into the bathroom and stepped into the shower, thinking about his last few days at Teiko as he turned the shower on. He had gotten to school three days prior to school starting, but the last three days had been a blur, after unpacking the rest of his clothing he spent the rest of his days reading and getting use to Kuroko staring at him. The first day they met, Kuroko had watched him as they spoke, making Akashi nervous, but over the last few days it seems to have gotten worse. Every time Akashi looked over at the smaller boy, he was staring at him so intently that Akashi got the impression he was watching him for quite sometime. It didn't exactly "bother" him so to say, it just unnerved him. He felt like he was undergoing some sort of test, and he didn't know how to pass.

A knock on the door disrupted his thoughts. 'Akashi-kun, Are you almost done?' Kuroko's voice asked through the door. 'I don't want to be late.'

Akashi slipped out of the shower as he answered . 'Sorry, I spaced out.'

As he pulled his clothes on, Kuroko knocked again. 'Are you dressed? Can I come in?'

Akashi finished pulling his pants up before answering. 'Alright, you can come in now.'

Kuroko walked in, his bedhead looking (if possible) worse then before. 'Thanks Akashi-kun, I just don't want to be late...' His eyes slid slowly up from Akashi's bare-feet, up to his legs where he was about to button up his pants, lingering on his bare chest, finally settling on his watchful eyes. 'Sorry... I guess I should have waited...' He said, his eyes trained on Akashi. He couldn't help but stare, Akashi looked so... _seductive._

'It doesn't really 's not like I'm naked.' Akashi glanced at him, before turning around to brush his teeth.

A small blush appeared on his blank face as his eyes slid down his back. Not saying anything, he went up beside Akashi to brush his teeth as well.

'So... would you like me to walk you to your first class?' Kuroko asked.

They had gotten their schedules the previous day, reading them over together they figured out they were in a more than half of the same classes. But Akashi was alone for his first class.

'No, it's quite alright, I think I'll manage.' He said as he spit the toothpaste out of his mouth.

'Alright, if you think so...' Kuroko put his toothbrush down and headed towards the shower. 'But if you wait for me, I can at least point you in the right direction.' He glanced at Akashi, waiting for his answer.

'Fine, if you think you have to.' He sighed as he walked out of the room.

Kuroko smiled as he stepped into the shower, Akashi really was cute.

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Following Kuroko's directions, Akashi found his first class with little issue. He walked into the room. Sitting down, he looked at the clock, noticing he was quite early.

He had just started pulling his books out of his bag, when he heard a sound behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see a young man with dark green hair that parted to the left and stopped just above his eyes, his eyes were light green with thick bottom lashes. He wore black-framed glasses with the frames stopping at the top. He wore a scowl and seemed to be angry, but Akashi had a feeling that he always looked that way.

The sound that Akashi had heard turned out to be the other boy clicking his tongue impatiently. Sighing, Akashi brought his attention back to his desk. As he opened his book, the clicking sound got louder. Akashi rubbed his temples quietly, trying to calm himself so he didn't snap at the boy, he wasn't really doing anything wrong.

'You wouldn't happen to be Akashi Seijuro, would you?' Asked the green-haired boy behind him.

Akashi turned to look at the boy behind him and answered. 'Prehaps, why would you like to know?' He asked, observing the other boy.

'I am Midroima Shintaro, I'm a Cancer, born on July seventh, my blood type is B. And Cancer's in the fourth spot today, unfortunately.' He said, pushing his glasses up in distaste.

Akashi was silent, why the hell did he give him so much information? 'I see... Well, I am Akashi Seijuro. But why do you want to know? And how did you know I was?' He asked, feeling curious, it's not everyday that someone comes up to you and starts giving you all their information, useless or otherwise.

'What's your sign?' He asked abruptly, not answering him, again.

Akashi was even more confused now, isn't that something stupid boys said when they were trying to pick up girls? 'Um... Sagittarius. And if you don't mind me asking, why does that matter?'

Midorima gasped as if he just said something horrible. 'That's what I feared, you might want to prepare yourself, because... I hate to be the one to tell you but... your horoscope predicts... bad luck all day long!' He said in a hushed whisper, but his voice raised as he finished. He looked around as if to make sure no one was listening in.

Akashi stared at him, at a loss for words. Was this guy actually worried, or was he just playing Akashi for an idiot? 'I see... are you making fun of me?' He glared at him, waiting to hear the answer.

'This is no time for fun! Do you not understand that you are in danger?! He shouted. 'Do at least have you lucky item?'

'Okay... ' Akashi didn't know what to say, how do you talk to someone who is obviously insane? 'Listen... I don't really understand what you mean... but you seem upset. So why don't you calm down and try to explain again? You said I'm in danger?' He spoke slowly and calmly, a little worried that the other boy would start yelling again.

The green-haired youth took a few calming breaths. 'I was checking the horoscopes this morning as I always do, and Sagittarius is destined to have horrible luck today. So I was wondering if you had your lucky item, so you can counteract it.' He stared at him, willing him to say yes.

'Um... no...' Akashi looked away trying not to laugh, or scream, he couldn't decide which he wanted to do more.

He sighed as if Akashi made a grave mistake. 'Well, that's alright...' He started rummaging through his bag. 'I was keeping this for a friend but...' He pulled out a stuffed turtle and set it on Akashi's desk. 'I think he'll be fine... If not, I have an extra one in my room.' He nodded as if just did Akashi a favour.

Akashi stared at the toy in front of him. It then dawned on him that the other boy was trying to be nice and help him out. 'Thank you, Shintaro... I'll take good care of it...' He smiled weakly.

'Good, I don't know why, but I get a good impression from you, so don't disappoint me.' He gave a Akashi a hard look, then tried something that must have been a smile, it came out more like a smirk though. Suddenly, Akashi liked this boy just a little bit more.

'Shintaro, Would you perhaps be this Midorima-chii that Ryouta mentioned?' He asked, watching the green-haired boy's scowl get more pronounced.

'Yes, unfortunately, I am. Putting it nicely, Kise is the most obnoxious person on the planet... well, except for Takao, but he's more like a monkey then a human... or Momoi... but she doesn't really count as a person...' He trailed off, obviously trying to decide who was worse.

'Who's Momoi?' He asked curious, why didn't she count as human?

'Oh, you don't want to know. Hopefully you won't have to meet her, all you need to know is that she's on the student council.' Midorima shook his head sadly. 'I would never have let her on if I had a say, but no, I'm not on the council, so what I want doesn't matter!'

Akashi nodded, hiding his smile. 'So, Who's Takao?'

Midorima didn't get time to answer before the door slammed open. 'Shin-chan! You said you would wait for me! But you weren't there and I couldn't get the bathroom door opened! So Kasamatsu-senpai had to come save me!' He said, breathing heavily.

Midorima fixed his glasses. 'First of all, I never said I would wait for you. I also don't see why the bathroom door being locked in _your_ room, I'd like to add, is my fault.' He looked away pointedly.

The black-haired boy stared at Midorima for a minute, before answering. 'I didn't lock myself in, if that's what you're saying! Kasamatsu-senpai said there was a chair with a dozen books on top of it propped against the door, and he also said he let you in on his way out.' He glared at the taller boy, waiting for the reply.

'Ah, I see what happened, it was all Kasamatsu's fault.' Midorima nodded to himself. 'Glad we figured that one out.'

Takao opened his mouth repeatedly but just ended up closing it again.

Akashi, meanwhile, was laughing quietly into his hand, amused by the scene playing out in front of him. Hearing the sound the black-haired boy looked over and saw Akashi.

'Hey! Are you laughing at me?!' His eyes narrowed at the red-haired boy.

Akashi cleared his throat. 'Yes, actually, I am. See, I just met Shintaro and I'm sorry to say I believe you and that Shintaro really did lock you in. But you seem like good friends, so I'm sure this will blow over.'

A huge smile spread across the black-haired boy's face. 'Me and Shin-chan are good friends, you could even say best friends! Heck, we're practically lovers!' He turned to Midorima, his face hopeful.

Midorima ignored Takao. Looking at Akashi, he said. 'Takao is hardly my friend, more like an obnoxious leech.'

'Sorry, I'm Takao Kazunari, it's nice to meet you.' Takao said, ignoring Midorima's comment.

Akashi nodded, answering. 'Akashi Seijuro.' He stared at the other boy.

He was about as tall as Akashi, he had black hair that he stroked backwards, a few strands hanging limply in front of his face. His silvery-blue eyes were narrow and observant and he was wearing a wide smile.

Takao nodded happily, sitting down next to Midorima, he said to Akashi. 'I'm glad you and Shin-chan are friends, he's really lonely.'

'Takao, you can be quiet now, unless you want me to cut your tongue off.' Before Takao could answer the teacher walked in, apologized for being late and class started.

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On his way to lunch Kuroko ran to catch up with Akashi. 'How was your classes, Akashi-kun? Did you meet anyone new?' Kuroko asked, sounding tired.

'Fine, and yes I did, his name was Shintaro. He was... interesting. So was his friend, Kazunari. Shintaro was in most of my classes, so we had time to talk, he told me you two were... "acquaintances." Oh yeah, and apparently I'm going to have horrible luck today, so he gave me this.' He held up the stuffed turtle. 'You were in some of the others. So I'm sure you saw him talking to me. Besides the parts that I was in, how was your morning?'

Kuroko nodded, 'Well, Aomine-kun was in one of them and so was Kise-kun, and a few others from middle school, so I had time to catch up, it was fun. And I'm glad you made friends with Midorima-kun, even though he doesn't really like me, he's not that bad, just a little off-putting.'

They walked into the lunchroom. After getting their food, Akashi saw Kuroko staring at the table that Aomine, Kise and a very tall boy Akashi didn't know were sitting at. 'You go sit with your friends, don't worry about me.' Akashi said to him.

'No, it's fine, It would be rude...' He said, tearing his eyes off the table where Kise was frantically trying to get Kuroko's attention.

Akashi shook his head, 'I'll sit over there, if you don't sit with them they'll come bug you anyways. Besides, I'm sure you've been sitting with them since middle school.' He patted Kuroko's shoulder as he walked away to go sit at the other table.

Kuroko looked over at the three boys sitting together waiting for him, he then turned his attention to the boy sitting alone. 'I guess the others will be fine without me for a while.' He walked up to Akashi's table and sat down.

'Tetsuya, what are you doing here? I thought you were sitting with your friends.' Akashi asked, confused.

'I am sitting with my friend.' He said firmly.

Akashi stared at him, an embarrassed smile pulling at his face. 'Whatever, it's your decision.' They ate, talking about school, and their next class when Kise ran over.

'Kuroko-chii~! You aren't sitting with us?!'

'No.' He said blankly.

'Why? Is it because you don't like us anymore?' Kise started to pout.

'I'm sitting with Akashi-kun. That's all.' He answered, not even looking up.

'Oh... I know! Then we'll just have to come sit with you! Come on, Aomine-chii~! Come on, Murasakibara-chii~!' He sat down next to Kuroko. Chatting animatedly until Aomine and the other boy finally made it over.

'Mine-chin... Kuro-chin gets to sit where he wants, why can't I sit with Muro-chin?' The very tall boy was saying as they walked over.

'No Murasakibara, we're going to sit with our friends, so stop yer whining.' Aomine replied. 'Besides, Himuro's sitting with his friends.'

'But he invited me...' He whined, dragging out the last word to emphasize his point.

'No.' Aomine said firmly.

'Ooh, stop bickering! Just sit down, Murasakibara-chii, you sit next to me. Aomine-chii, you sit next to Akashi.' Kise ordered.

They both sat without complaint. The taller one set down his tray, full to the brim with food. He then looked around and sighed.

'What's wrong, Murasakibara-kun?' Kuroko asked, noticing him looking around.

'Well, Muro-chin promised to bring me more food, but he's not here yet...' He stuck out his bottom lip.

Akashi looked at the full tray in front of the taller boy. 'Did he?' He waited until he saw the bigger boy nod, before pushing his own tray forward. 'Then you can have mine.'

His eyes widened as he looked down at the full tray of food now in front of him. 'Really...? Are you sure...? Nobody ever shares with me... well, except for Muro-chin...'

'Well, we aren't really sharing, I'm giving it to you. And I want something in return.' Akashi replied, pushing the tray closer,

'Okay... what do you want? I'll give you anything.' The giant answered.

'All I want for now is... your name, it's quite awkward to be talking to a nameless man, don't you agree?'

Murasakibara thought for a moment before nodding, 'I can do that. I'm Murasakibara Atsushi, I'm in my first year and... I like to eat food, lots of food.' He nodded again. 'Anything else?'

Akashi shook his head. 'No, that's fine, I'm Akashi Seijuro, I also will be starting my first year, and I'm sharing a room with Tetsuya, which is how we met.'

'Oh... But why did you give me your food?' He asked, gazing down at the food, as if he was worried Akashi would take it back.

'Well, you're obviously hungry, and you're much bigger then I am, so you obviously have to eat more then I do. Also, I'm not hungry and you are, it's a waste to eat it if I don't even want it.' He said in a matter-of-fact sort of way.

'Really? Okay, Thanks, Aka-chin.' Murasakibara started eating his two trays of food happily.

'Aka-chin?' Akashi said, confused.

'That's how Murasakibara-kun shows respect. It means he likes you, Akashi-kun.' Kuroko said, giving Akashi one of his rare smiles.

'Really?' Akashi watched Murasakbara nod. 'Then I'm honoured, thank you Atsushi.'

Murasakibara nodded happily. 'You're welcome Aka-chin.' He glanced over to see shocked faces around the table. 'What's wrong...?' He asked, confused

'You trusted him... so... quickly!' Kise said, amazed.

'Yeah, don't start likin' someone just 'cause they gave you food. You don't know anythin' 'bout this guy!' Aomine added.

'But he's nice... he gave me food and I'm hungry... because _you_ wouldn't let me see Muro-chin!' He glared at Aomine, daring him to say anything else.

Akashi noted that it was quite a threatening notion, Murasakibara was almost seven feet tall, with shoulder length purple hair. He had tired looking purple eyes, that were lowered in an angry glare, he also gave off the impression of a foul temper.

'Okay, okay. Sorry, just calm down...' Aomine said, putting his hands up in a act of surrender.

'Atsushi~! I brought your food!' A boy with slick black hair said, walking over to the table. 'Sorry it took so long, I hope you aren't mad... Oh... you already have two trays...' He said, noticing the second tray.

'Aka-chin gave me his food.' He pointed at Akashi.

'Oh, did he now? The other boy asked, looking down at Akashi, something resembling irritation flickering in his eye.

He was taller then Akashi by a few inches, with silky black hair that fell on his handsome face, covering his left eye, he had a beauty mark under his unveiled right eye which was grey-blue in colour.

Akashi considered his options, this guy was obviously under the impression that Akashi was flirting with Atsushi, and he wasn't happy about it.

'Well, you see, Atsushi was obviously hungry... and I knew you were probably trying your hardest to get here quickly, but meanwhile he was complaining, and I didn't want him to be upset with you when you got here.' He waited to see if he would buy it.

'Is that true, Atsushi? Was I taking too long?' Himuro waited until Murasakibara said yes before continuing. 'Sorry Atsushi, I tried to come sooner but Taiga wouldn't let me leave. Forgive me?'

'Okay... but only if you bring me an extra dessert tonight...' He looked at him from under his bangs. 'Deal?'

'Whatever you want, sweetie.' He said, smiling kindly. He then turned towards Akashi. 'I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier. I'm Himuro Tatsuya. And thank you for feeding my poor starving Atsushi.'

'I'm Akashi Seijuro. And don't worry about it, I wasn't hungry anyways and he was, besides, look at him. He obviously needs it more then I do.' He said, nodding towards the giant in front of him.

'It's true... Atsushi does eat a lot... it annoys most people, but I understand. And that's why _I'm _Atsushi's lover, and not them.' He said smugly.

'That's true, lucky you, I bet people hate you now. And I'd love to continue this conversation, but I have to go get ready for class. Bye Tetsuya, everyone.' He got up, nodded to Himuro and walked down the aisle, towards the door.

Aomine and Kise watched him leave in shock, Murasakibara _never _trusts someone so easily.

'Isn't Akashi-kun interesting?' Kuroko asked his two surprised friends.

'He really is something... isn't he?' Kise replied.

'He told me he became friends with Midorima-kun.' Kuroko told everyone.

Kise turned around so fast that he smacked his tray right to the floor and Murasakibara dropped the food that he was eating.

'Mido-chin? Are you sure?' Murasakibara asked.

'Yeah, maybe you misheard him, Kuroko-chii.' Kise said gently.

'What would I have heard instead of Shintaro?' When he didn't get an answer, he went on. 'And besides, I know he said Midorima-kun, because he also mentioned Takao-kun. And I mean really, how many friends does that guy have?' He asked, standing up.

'Aka-chin really is special...?' Murasakibara said, putting his arm around Himuro and kissing him on the head. 'Bye Muro-chin, remember, extra dessert.' He smiled as the other boy nodded and said good bye.

They all left talking about Midorima and Akashi, not realizing Aomine wasn't saying anything at all.

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Akashi was in the locker room waiting for gym to start when Kuroko got there. Nodding to Sakurai who was in front of his own locker, Kuroko walked by him and up to Akashi, 'Why did you leave so fast? We could have walked together.' He said, sounding breathless.

'I'm not all that comfortable talking to people, and I didn't want to talk anymore so I left.' He answered, shrugging. 'If you wanted me to wait for you then you should have told me.'

'Okay, I'll remember that. Oh, and sorry about everyone coming over like that.'

'It's fine. They're your friends, they want to sit with you, it doesn't bother me in the least. Besides, I told you they were going to come over if you sat with me, so I'm not surprised. Akashi answered, putting his stuff in his locker.

I know, it's just...' But Kuroko didn't get to finish because at that moment the door flew open.

'Kuorko-chii~! Don't abandon us like that!' Kise yelled, pulling Aomine and Murasakibara in the room.

'Calm down, Kise... it doesn't matter. He just wanted to see Akashi.' Aomine said, sneering slightly.

'You're too loud.' Murasakibara added

Akashi closed his locker. He looked at the tanned boy for a minute, then turned towards Kuroko. 'Ryouta's right, you shouldn't leave you're friends to come see me.' He scolded.

'You're also my friend, and besides, I didn't abandon them, Kise-kun forgot something in his room and dragged Aomine there to go get it, and I didn't want to be late.' He answered, also closing his locker.

'I have an idea. Why don't we stop having this pointless discussion.' Midorima said, walking into the room.

'Midorima-chii! Why weren't you at lunch?' Kise asked, confused.

They all stared at him, waiting for an answer when the bell rang.

'Ah, we'd better get to gym.' He pushed past them, avoiding the question.

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Akashi got held up by the gym teacher as gym finished, he was trying ot convince Akashi to try out for numerous sports teams, guaranteeing he would make all of them. Akashi assured him that he would think about it. He then got stuck helping clean the gym up, his gym teacher promised to write out a note explaining why he was late.

When he finally finished, he went into the locker room alone. Taking a quick shower, he hurried to his locker only to stop in his tracks.

Written all over his locker was vicious graffiti, threatening him to leave school, Classes only started today! How come people were already threatening him? He stared at the last line written on his locker.** LEAVE TEIKO, AKASHI SEIJURO, OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. ONE CHANCE, THAT'S ALL YOU GET.**

'Great, someone already hates me.' He wiped the tears out of his eyes, turned on his heel and left the room.

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'Kay, that'a all~! Oh my God, the plot's actually moving forward, so tell me what you think. See y'all in chapter five!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys~! I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has continued to review my story. Thanks guys, it means so much to me~! Alright, enjoy chapter five~!

All the rights belong to Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

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Chapter Five, The Student Council.

_'It's getting late, where's Akashi-kun? He missed curfew. I hope he's not in trouble. Now that I think about it, He was acting weird in class today, when was it... oh yeah, right after gym. He came in late and he looked upset... I hope he's okay, what if something happened? Oh, what if he got caught? He might get in trouble, it's only the first day, so they might go easy on him, Himuro-senpai is on the council, so he might help him out if that's the case. He did feed Murasakibara-kun after all.' _Kuroko thought to himself, staring at the door.

He heard the sound of a phone ringing, _'oh, that's my phone.' _He picked it up off of the desk.

'Hello?' He answered.

'Kuro-chin? Is Aka-chin there?' Murasakibara's voice responded.

'Akashi-kun? No, why?' Kuroko asked, sitting up.

'Muro-chin said that he was caught out of bed after curfew... but he might get away with no punishment, if he had a good reason. So I wanted to know if he was back yet... I think Muro-chin went to go bail him out.' He said, sounding slightly worried.

Kuroko's mouth went dry. He cleared his throat and asked the burning question. 'You sound worried, who caught him?'

Silence followed the question.

'Murasakibara-kun?'

'Imayoshi...' Murasakibara said quietly.

Kuroko's heart fell to his stomach. 'Imayoshi-senpai...?'

'Mm-hm, but that's not all. Sa-chin's there too.'

Kuroko's heart came back up. 'Momoi-san?'

'Yeah... That's not bad.. she might go easy on him...' He said, trying to reassure his friend.

'Murasakibara-kun, you need to call Himuro-senpai right now. Call him and tell him that he needs to tell Momoi-san that Akashi-kun is my friend and my roommate. And to make sure to tell her we're _really _close, and I'd be upset if he got in trouble. She might be able to convince Imayoshi not to give him a really harsh, really unfair punishment. Can you do that?' He asked in a rushed voice.

'I guess... okay... bye.' Murasakibara hung up the phone.

Kuroko took a calming breath, it may seem like he's overreacting, but Imayoshi was famous for his cruel punishments, they say that he gives worse punishments depending on how early in the year it is. He does it to scare the first-years so they know not to break anymore rules. Not only that, Imayoshi also has a list favourites and you don't want to be at the bottom of that list. Kuroko couldn't even imagine what would happen to Akashi for being out of bed after curfew on the first day.

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Himuro hung up his phone and turned towards the two people on the other side of the table. 'Sorry about that. Atsushi called, I can't just ignore him.' He said with false cheer.

'Actually you can, you just choose not to.' The man named Imayoshi said.

Imayoshi was just under six feet. He had black messy hair that hung slightly over his closed eyes, on which he wore glasses.

Himuro ran his hand through his hair. ''Kay, whatever, can we discuss the problem at hand?' He asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from his talk with Atsushi.

'Yeah, Imayoshi, I'm tired and want to go to bed! So, let's decide what to do with this cutie~!' Said the bouncy girl known as Momoi.

Momoi was quite a bit shorter then Akashi, with long pink hair cascading down her back. She had large pink eyes that seemed to hold a lot of knowledge in them. She had a slender build and stood with confidence.

Imayoshi sighed, 'Momoi, you aren't complaining about your job, are you?'

'No, of course not, silly~! I love working and stuff, I'm just tired!' She said, adding an exaggerated yawn.

'I'm sorry, but can we figure out to do with this poor boy so he can go back to his room and go to sleep? I'm sure Kuroko is staying up waiting for him.' Himuro glanced at Momoi.

'Tetsu-kun?' Momoi asked, curious now.

'Oh! Didn't you know?' Himuro said, fake innocence splayed across his face.

'Know what?' She asked.

'That boy over there is Akashi Seijuro, he's also Kuroko's good friend and roommate. Kuroko's probably really worried, now that I think about it.' He looked away sighing heavily, 'poor kid...'

Tears welled up in Momoi's eyes. 'Oh no! He's probably lonely! I'll go comfort him!' She turned to leave when two hands grabbed the back of her shirt.

'No Momoi, you won't comfort him. You'll continue to do what you were elected to do.' Imayoshi said, threat laced into his words.

'Yeah, we should deal with Akashi now, so he can go back and keep Kuroko company.' Himuro shook his head. 'But, I can't even imagine how upset he'll be if Akashi gets in trouble...' He added quietly enough so only Momoi could hear.

'Imayoshi~! I think we should let him go!' Momoi stated.

Imayoshi rubbed his temples. 'Just because he's friends with a boy who has no interest in you at all?'

'That's not true! He does like me!' And that's not the reason anyway! I just think he didn't really do anything wrong...' She looked away, knowing that wouldn't fly with Imayoshi.

'Oh, he didn't do anything wrong, did he? So it's all right for students to be wandering the halls an hour after curfew now? I didn't realize that the rules were changed.' He looked at Momoi from over his glasses.

'Maybe we should figure out why he was out of bed _before_ we punish him? Or is that too fair for your liking, Imayoshi?' Momoi shot back.

Himuro watched them bicker back and forth. _'We really aren't getting anywhere, are we?' _He thought to himself.

'Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt your argument, but can we please decide what punishment I'm going to get so I can go to bed?' Akashi asked from the corner of the room where he sat.

'I'm sorry,' Imayoshi said turning towards him, 'are we boring you? If only you didn't have to be here. Prehaps you shouldn't be roaming around school after hours.' He gave Akashi a snide look.

Akashi hesitated before answering. _'I get the impression that I should watch my tongue, this guy does hold my fate in his hand. But I don't want to come off looking weak, it'll make him think he can bully me more.' _He thought to himself, trying to decide what to do next.

Choosing his words carefully Akashi began to talk. 'Listen, I didn't meant ot stay out late I just-'

'Oh you didn't, did you? Lost track of time, did you? How many times do you think I've heard that excuse?' Imayoshi asked, interrupting Akashi before he could explain himself.

'Oh, Imayoshi! you're being so mean! He's only a first year! I bet he didn't even go to middle school here!' Momoi said, coming to Akashi's defense.

'That changes nothing, there are rules and rules are meant to be followed. And from what I've heard, this boy has a hard time following them.' He smiled as Akashi's face paled. 'Oh yes, Akashi Seijuro, I've seen your file. Kicked out of, what was it now? Three schools?' His sadistic smile got more pronounced as Akashi shot to his feet.

'That's none of your business, who the hell let you read my private file?' Akashi's voice shook, but otherwise he kept his temper under control.

'Oh, I know people, Seijuro. And I wonder how your "roommate" would feel knowing he was sharing a room with a fugitive?' Imayoshi said, his eyes glinting with malice.

Akashi stared at him in shock. 'Don't talk about things you don't understand! I never did anything wrong, it was all a big set up! I am not a fugitive!' Akashi shouted, no longer able to control his temper.

Momoi and Himuro stood there in shock, what was Imayoshi talking about? Should they stop him? If so, how? Once Imayoshi got going, there was no stopping him.

'Or so you say. You're just lucky they didn't convict you.' His smile getting (if possible) even wider.

Akashi stared at the taller boy. 'I didn't...' He trailed off, not sure what to say to convince the older boy.

Imayoshi started to say something more when a voice stopped him. 'Don't you think that's quite enough, Imayoshi? What does this have to do with Akashi being out after hours?' Said a rather tall man with short black hair with the bangs combed to the left; His eyes were a stormy-grey colour. And he wore an armband around his left forarm.

Akashi glanced at the newcomer, but then looked back at the ground trying to regain his composure.

'Ah, Nijimura, what brings you here?' Imayoshi asked casually, as if he wasn't just tormenting someone.

'I heard that you found someone out after hours and I had a bad feeling that you'd overreact and make them cry like last time. But this boy isn't crying. So I guess I must have gotten here just in time, that or this boy's stronger than the last one. Though to be fair, the last one _was_ in middle shcool.' He said, glancing around the room. 'Ah, Himuro, I'm sure you can tell me what happened.' He nodded at Momoi, 'you're welcome to help as well, Momoi.'

Himuro shook himself out of his daze. 'Imayoshi just attacked Akashi with out any reason! He hasn't even figured out why he was out after hours!' Himuro told him, glaring at Imayoshi who just shrugged.

'It's true, I'll tell you _everything._' Momoi said.

The man named Nijimura nodded, 'Go ahead.'

'Okay, so me and Imayoshi were patrolling the halls as usual, when we saw Akashi heading towards the gym, and I was all like, 'Oh my God! He's out after hours!' And Imayoshi was all like, 'You're right Momoi, as usual, let's go see what he's doing.' So we went over to him, and did the whole 'you shouldn't be out this late' sha-bang and Akashi was all like, 'Shit, is it that late?' And I was like 'Uh, yeah, have you ever heard of a watch?' and he was all like-' She was cut off by Nijimura clearing his throat.

'Momoi, do you think you could speed this up?' He asked politely.

'Oh yeah, sorry. Anyways! So we took this cutie to the office so not to wake anyone up, and Imayoshi started the usual 'You realize you're breaking rules' crap that he has memorized. Meanwhile, I thought I should tell Himuro that we caught a kid out of bed, so if it came down to a vote, we had at least three people here. And by the time he got here, Imayoshi was finally done his rant. Then I was telling Himuro what happened when his phone rang! And the rude bastard answered it! So after he got off the phone with his needy boyfriend,' Himuro glared at her at that part. 'We talked about it some more. Then Himuro mentioned he was roommates with Tetsu-kun! And that didn't totally change anything, but it got me thinking, 'Hey, we should let this poor kid go! He didn't really do anything wrong, right?' And then Imayoshi got all up in my face and we started to fight, then one thing led to the other and Imayoshi started attacking Akashi! Then you walked in. And that's all.' She said, taking a big breath as she finished.

'Alright, I think I got the gist of it. So how about instead of fighting we figure out what Akashi was doing out after hours, so we can all go to bed?' He asked, looking around the room to make sure no one disagreed before turning towards Akashi. 'Why were you out after hours, Akashi?'

Akashi took a calming breath. 'I was just heading back to the locker room, because I forgot my bag. That's all.'

'Your bag? But why were you getting it so late? And if I'm correct, gym isn't your last class, so how did you foget it in the locker room and not notice?' Nijimura asked him.

Akashi thought for a minute, he didn't sound angry, it sounded more like he just wanted all the facts, as if he would prefer that Akashi didn't get into trouble. But he definitely wasn't going to let him off that easily. 'Well... I had to go back to the gym after my classes... and I ran a little late, I was on my way back to my room when I noticed that I forgot my bag and I was going to go retrieve it when those two found me.' He chanced a glance at the older boy, to see that Nijimura was smiling.

'Well, I don't see any problem with that. I say we let him off with a warning.' He looked around the room, his eyes halting on Imayoshi.

'A little late? Why did you have to go to the gym in the first place? And why were you there so long? It was an hour after curfew when we found you.' Imayoshi challenged.

'I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I had to share all my personnel agendas with the student council.' Akashi said, sarcasm dripping from his words like venom.

'I agree, I don't see why what Akashi was doing matters, it's none of our business. But let's put it to a vote, all in favour of letting Akashi off with a warning?' Nijimura said, raising his own hand.

Both Himuro and Momoi raised their hands.

'Well, it's decided. You're free to go Akashi, we'll get someone to walk you back to the gym to get your bag and then to your room so this doesn't happen again.' Nijimura told him quite cheerfully.

Imayoshi stood up sighing, 'Damn, I was really looking forward to punishing you. Oh well, I'm going now, see you~!' He strolled out of the room.

Akashi stared after him, that was quite the change in demeanor, he didn't even seem angry.

'Oh my God! Talk about stressful!' Momoi said, turning to talk to Akashi. 'I'm Momoi Satsuki, by the way~! And that meanie was Imayoshi Shoichi. You can just ignore him, he's a big bully!' She smiled sweetly.

'It's true, I'm glad you didn't get in trouble, Atsushi told me that Kuroko was really worried.' Himuro said, patting Akashi on the shoulder.

Himuro and Momoi both left the room together, it took Akashi a minute to realize he got stuck with the older boy. Then something occurred to him. 'How did you know my name, Nijimura...senpai?' He asked, looking him in the face. 'You also seem familiar. Have we met?'

Nijimura laughed, 'Anyone could have figured out your name with Momoi in here screaming for the world to hear.'

'That's true, but you didn't answer my other question.' Akashi pointed out.

'I know, but we'll talk about that later, I imagine that Kuroko is sick with worry.' Nijimura answered.

Akashi agreed and they headed back to the gym in silence.

'By the way Seijuro, you don't have to try being polite with me, hearing you try to add the senpai was painful.' He told him, slight amusement laced with his words

_'He called me Seijuro...'_ He thought to himself. 'I'll just be a minute.' Akashi said out loud to him as he ran into the locker room to grab his bag.

He glanced at his locker that he had spent hours cleaning off. He was happy to see that the graffiti was barely noticeable. He grabbed his bag and came back out again.

'Alright, let's get going, I'm tired,' Akashi said to Nijimura as he started to walk down the hallway and towards the dorms.

'Of course, lead the way, Seijuro...' Nijimura said, walking after him. A small smile dancing on his face.

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Akashi walked in his room to find Kuroko right in front of the door. 'Akashi-kun! Are you alright? It's so late, did something happen? I heard you got caught, did you get in trouble? I'm sorry, I should have gone to look for you, but I didn't want to get caught... was Imayoshi hard on you? I'm so sorry.' Kuroko said all in one chain of words. There was weakly hidden worry all over his face.

'I'm fine Tetsuya, calm down. I didn't get into trouble. And don't worry about it, I didn't want you to look for me anyways...' He trailed off, looking away from Kuroko.

'Why? Were you doing something bad...?' Kuroko looked at Akashi in concern.

Akashi looked offended, 'Have you no faith? I wasn't doing anything bad, I just wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me.' He smiled at the smaller boy warmly.

Kuroko smiled back, 'Okay, whatever you say.'

A silence filled the room for a second before Akashi broke it.

'Tetsuya, can I ask you something?' Akashi asked, looking down at his feet.

'Of course, ask away, Akashi-kun.' Kuroko answered, staring at Akashi's face.

'Um... we're friends, right?' Akashi glanced at Kuroko's face, waiting for an answer.

'Yes, of course we're friends. I've already told you that.' Kuroko said, feeling slightly confused.

'Okay, but would you say we're really good friends? Like such good friends that you'd still be my friend even if you figure out something really bad about me? Or if someone was spreading horrible rumours?' Akashi stared hard at Kuroko's face.

Kuroko was caught off guard, what a weird question. 'Of course, I'm friends with _you _Akashi-kun. Not whoever you think you use to be.' Kuroko told the redhead.

Akashi smiled, taking a deep breath he hugged Kuroko. 'Thank you, Tetsuya, That means a lot to me.' He buried his face in the smaller boy's hair and smiled.

Kuroko wrapped his arms around Akahsi, blushing slightly. 'You're welcome, Akashi-kun, you mean a lot to me too.' He mumbled into Akashi's shirt.

Now it was Akashi's turn to blush. But he said nothing and continued to hug Kuroko in comfortable silence.

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Okay, that's all, I hope you enjoyed it~! Tell me what you think! And call me dumb all you want, but I never realized that let me insert these cut of lines...


	6. Chapter 6

Hey~! Wow! I can't believe we've made it all the way to chapter six! I want to thank you all for so much support, you guys are so awesome! And I hope you can enjoy chapter six.

All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Chapter Six, The Hospital Wing.

'Satsuki, did I hear that you caught a kid out of bed last night?' A girl with caramel coloured hair asked.

Momoi Satsuki looked up from her desk. 'Yeah, me and Imayoshi did. Why do you ask, Riko?' She asked, swirling around to face the smaller girl.

'I was just curious. I just find it strange that there was a first year out of bed alone, and on the first day too. Also, He got out of trouble, that's not normal when Imayoshi catches you.' She answered, logically.

Momoi nodded, 'That's true, Imayoshi does like punishing people~!' She said, twirling her long hair around her finger.

Riko shook her head. 'You shouldn't sound so happy about that, Satsuki. Imayoshi should never have been put in a place of power.' Riko told her sternly.

'Yeah, yeah. But we can't do anything about that. Both me and you would vote him off the council, but no one else would go for it. And besides~! He may be a total creep, but he has done great things for the council.' Momoi reasoned.

'Hmph, you sound like Nijimura. Going on about doing great things for the council and for the students. Well, maybe he has, but that doesn't give him an excuse to be a total ass!' Riko shouted, smacking her hand on the desk.

'Eek! Riko, calm down, I know he's an ass and you know and if Himuro didn't know, he does now. But we can't do anything about it!' Momoi said, trying to calm the angry girl down.

'Whatever,' Riko said, falling back into her chair. 'That's not what's bothering me anyways, I was just trying to figure out how he got off.'

'Oh yeah! Nijimura came in and was all like, 'Imayoshi, Momoi, let this cutie pie off, he didn't do anything wrong~!' And we were all like, 'Oh my God! It's Nijimura~! What do we do~?' And then Nijimura was all like, 'it's cool guys, let him off, kids will be kids,' So he got off with a warning~!' Momoi told her happily, 'Hey... how did you know he got off anyways?'

'First of all, I have a hard time believing that Nijimura said any of that. And Hyuuga-kun told me, of course.' Riko said with smile.

Ignoring Riko's comment about Momoi's version of the story, Momoi tilted her head slightly. 'How did Hyuuga know?' She asked, getting more confused.

'Imayoshi told him. They're sharing a room this year.' Riko told Momoi, shaking her head sympathetically.

'Poor guy. I heard the last person who shared a room with him now lives full-time in a asylum.' Momoi said sadly.

Riko nodded solemnly.

They sat in silence for a minute before continuing.

'Anyways, what was the kid's name?' Asked Riko.

'Um... Akashi Seijuro. And guess what! He's Tetsu-kun's new roommate! I hear they're really good friends!' She told Riko excitedly.

'Really? That's nice. Kuroko-kun has been friends with the other four for so long, I think it's a good idea for him to branch out.' Riko said, smiling.

'Yeah... he has other friends, but he never goes out of his way to spend any time with them, unless they're the original four from middle school.' Momoi agreed.

'Didn't he hang out with Izuki-kun for a while?' Riko asked Momoi, knowing the other girl would have the answer.

'Yeah. But they haven't seen each other recently. Most think it's 'cause Dai-chan is too aggressive.' Momoi told Riko.

'Aomine-kun? What do you mean?' Riko asked, confused. She knew that Aomine had a bad temper, but aggressive?

'Well, Dai-chan's always been... possessive of Tetsu-kun. And... well, people think that's why he doesn't have many friends outside of his inner group.' Momoi explained.

'Oh... why is he possessive?'

Momoi shook her head. 'Didn't you know? They went out in middle school.'

'Well, yeah, but they called it off, right? They thought it wasn't working.' Riko said, remembering what Momoi told her years ago.

'Tetsu-kun didn't think it was working, Dai-chan only agreed that it would be best if they stopped seeing each other. That doesn't mean he wanted to break up with Tetsu-kun, if you ask me, I think Dai-chan still has a crush on Tetsu-kun.' Momoi said knowingly.

'Oh... I didn't know that...' Riko shook her head. 'You don't think Aomine-kun's purposefully scaring people away from Kuroko-kun, do you?'

Momoi thought silently for a minute. 'I don't know Riko, I really don't. I love Dai-chan. but he's a loose cannon. And he's kind of a brat. He like getting what he wants, and he gets jealous really easily.'

Riko got up and hugged Momoi. 'Don't worry, Satsuki, I'm sure it'll be fine, eveything will turn out okay.' She told her soothingly

Momoi smiled into the other girl's shoulder. 'I really hope you're right, I don't want Dai-chan to get in trouble.'

'Don't worry,' Riko said, 'I'm always right.'

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Akashi stared listlessly out the classroom window, thinking of Kuroko. It wasn't natural for Akashi to hug someone out of the blue that, or to hug someone at all for that matter. But with Kuroko, he felt different. He liked the way the boy smiled, the way he was so hard to read and the way he seemed to understand Akashi without Akashi being forced to talk about himself. Kuroko never asked uncomfortable questions, he never expected anything out of Akashi except to be Akashi. And he couldn't help but remember what Kuroko said last night. _'You're welcome, Akashi-kun, you mean a lot to me too.' _He understood that Kuroko probably just misheard him, but he couldn't help but smile while thinking about it.

_'But why?' _Akashi pondered. _'Why do I smile so much while thinking about him? Why is it that I enjoy his company so much? It bothers me that I think of him so much, as well. I mean... I guess I could consider him my first real friend... no, there was someone before Tetsuya. But who? I can't seem to remember, I did have a friend when I was younger, right? Yes, I did, I remember now, he got sent to some private school when he was thirteen. He was year older then me, I think. Oh yes, he was. What was his name now? I'm drawing a blank, it wasn't that long ago... shit, what was his name? Why can't I remember?' _Akashi rubbed his sore head, groaning slightly.

'Are you alright Akashi-san? Do you need to go see the nurse?' The teacher asked from in front of the chalkboard, pulling Akashi out of his thoughts.

Akahsi glanced at Midorima, who was watching him with slight concern on his face. He then gave the teacher a searching look before answering. 'Oh no, I'm quite alright, thank you.'

'Are you sure? Class is almost over, you wouldn't be missing much.' The teacher told him.

Should a teacher really tell a student that it didn't matter if he missed class? That doesn't reassure Akashi that this class really mattered.

Before Akashi could answer, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. But he continued to shake his head. 'I should be fine, just a minor headache...' He told the teacher.

'Are you sure? You don't look very- Akashi-san!' She yelled, getting caught by surprise as the red-haired boy slid off his chair and on to the floor.

Akashi opened his bleary eyes to see feet surrounding him, he could hear people whispering and someone shouting. But he was having a hard time following what was going on.

'Get out of the way please! Let me see him. Move please!' The teacher shouted, trying to get by the number of students crowding around the semi-conscious boy. She knelt down next to him. 'Akashi-san? Can you hear me?'

Akashi tried to answer, but opening his mouth made him feel sick so he closed it again and just nodded.

'Alright, I'm going to take you to the nurse, okay? We'll get her to look at you, alright? Nod if you understand.' She said slowly and clearly.

Akashi nodded slowly and felt himself being lifted.

'I'm going to need help carrying him! He's much to heavy for me.' The teacher yelled around the room.

'Out of my way. Cancer's in the second spot today, so I know I can help.' Said Midorima. walking over with a slightly smug expression, as if Cancer being in the second spot made him invincible.

He helped the teacher lift Akashi and carry him out of the room towards the nurse's office.

'Midorima-san, can you just hold him while I call the nurse, so she know's that we're coming?" The teacher asked, watching Midorima nod she put the rest of the weight on him and pulled out her phone.

While Midorima waited Akashi started to stir. 'Akashi, are you alright?' He asked, examining the other boy's pale face.

Akashi nodded slowly. 'I'm... alright... Shintaro...' He said, trailing off as he tried not to puke.

'I don't think you are. I'm not surprised though. See, Sagittarius is in tenth today, and that's not good. I've been watching you, to make sure you were okay, you can't imagine how relieved I was when I saw that you had your lucky item today! But sometimes you can't stop fate...' Midorima shook his head sadly.

Akashi glanced up at Midorima. 'My lucky item... did I?'

'Your mechanical pencil? Oh, don't worry about it, I know you are hallucinating and that's why you don't remember purposefully bringing it.' Midorima assured him.

Akashi thought for a minute, he definitely didn't bring it because it was his lucky item, he brought it to write with. But Midorima seemed satisfied so he said nothing, he also didn't want to puke.

The teacher walked over, 'Alright, let's get going. We're almost there.' She took half of Akashi's weight and carried him down the hallway.

'Shintaro, can you tell Tetsuya... not to worry because I might not come back to the room tonight?' He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

'Of course, Akashi.' Midorima answered.

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Kuroko was talking to Aomine when Midorima found him.

'Kuroko,' Midorima said, interrupting Aomine as he talked.

'Oi! I'm talkin' Midorima!' Aomine said, annoyed.

'Yeah, Why are you interrupting him, Midorima-kun?' Kuroko asked.

'Akashi wanted me to tell you not to worry, but he probably won't be coming to the room tonight. Good bye.' Midorima turned to leave.

'Wait. Why isn't Akashi-kun coming home tonight?' Kuroko asked, blankly confused.

'He got taken to the hospital wing, he almost fainted in class. He's sleeping right now...' Midorima told Kuroko.

Midorima watched Kuroko turn and run down the hallway quickly, though his face stayed expressionless.

'Sorry, Aomine-kun! I'll talk to you later!' Kuroko shouted over his shoulder.

Aomine stared at him in silence. He'd never seen Kuroko act like that before. He rarely showed interest in other people's health.

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Kuroko walked into the hospital wing. After talking to the nurse at the counter he made his way to Akashi's bed.

'Akashi-kun can you hear me?' Kuroko asked cautiously.

Akahshi opened a bleary eye. 'Tetsuya...? Is something the matter?' He asked, groggily.

'No, I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.' Kuroko answered.

Akashi grabbed Kuroko's hand, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. 'I'm alright, just a head cold, it happens all the time.'

Kuroko reluctantly helped Akashi sit up. 'Are you sure? You don't look good at all. And what do you mean "it happens all the time?" Do you get sick often?' Kuroko asked the taller boy, getting slightly upset.

Akashi shook his pounding head. 'Not all the time. Just... often...' Akashi looked away from the other boy's intense stare.

'But you said all the time. Why are you lying to me?' Kuroko asked, sounding tearful.

'Tetsuya, why do sound like you're going to cry? I just don't see why it matters that I use to get sick.' Akashi told Kuroko, squeezing his hand.

'Because, what if it's serious? What if you have some sort of incurable disease.' Kuroko said, waving his arms around for effect.

'It's not serious. Just calm down, alright? If I ever get a serious life threatening disease I'll make sure that you are the first to know.' Akashi promised, a smile pulling at his face.

Kuroko shook his head, calming himself down. 'Really? Even before your parents?'

Akashi laughed. 'If I told my father, he'd probably get mad at me for being sick, then he'd give me a big rant on how I'm destroying the family honour or something.' He looked away, regretting that he said that out loud.

Kuroko stared at him for a minute, but chose not to say anything. 'Well, at least you didn't get in trouble last night. Imayoshi-senpai would have been furious that you missed your punishment because you got sick.' Kuroko said, shuddering slightly. 'I meant to ask, how did you get out of trouble?'

Akashi thought for a minute. 'Well, I was about to hear my punishment when someone came in and pretty much took control of the situation. He told everyone to shut up, then he talked to me a bit and figured out what was going on, they did a vote and I got off with a warning.'

'Who was it? Did you catch his name?' Kuroko asked, trying to figure out who would be able to control Imayoshi.

'Nijimura, I think it was.' Akashi replied, starting to feel tired.

'Nijimura-senpai? Really?' He watched Akashi nod before continuing. 'That's amazing. And it makes sense, Imayoshi-senpai always listens to Nijimura-senpai. Well, I mean everyone does, it's hard not to. He's just so... interesting...' Kuroko stared off in obvious wonder.

'Tetsuya, could you tell me who Nijimura is?' Akashi asked curiously.

'Nijimura Shuzo, He's in his second year of high school.' Kuroko told him.

'Shuzo... I've heard that name before...' Akashi mumbled to himself.

'Maybe you've heard it around school.' Kuroko suggested.

'Maybe...' Akashi said, but he knew that wasn't it.

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It took a while for Kuroko to leave, finally agreeing with Akashi that he did have class, so he did need to get going. He bid Akashi farewell and left, glancing one last time over his shoulder at the sleepy looking boy in the bed.

Akahsi drifted into a heavy sleep. The name Shuzo Nijimura still weighing on his mind.

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Well, there you go, not the most interesting chapter, but the entire next chapter is going to be flashbacks. So, tell me what you think, and I'll see you in chapter seven!


	7. Chapter 7

Hey~! How's it going? Are you all enjoying season two? I know I am! Well, no more talking, let's get this started.

All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

Chapter Seven, Five Years Ago.

* * *

_A small boy sat by himself, he watched the other kids play with each other, they looked happy. The small boy wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled them closer to his body._

_'It's alright, I don't need friends anyway.' He said. 'Why would I want to run around and play? And how is running around even fun? Besides, father says they're all beneath me, anyway.'_

_'Hey, there's a boy over there! Let's go play with him!' One of the boys said to another one._

_'Ew, no. Don't you know who that is? That's Akashi Seijuro. He thinks he's better then us 'cause his dad has lots of money.' The other boy told him._

_'Really? Well, I don't like him then. He's dumb!' The small, gullible boy answered._

_'I have an idea. Let's teach him a lesson. We'll show him who's better.' The bigger boy told the smaller one._

_'Um... Okay! Yeah, let's teach him!' The smaller boy agreed._

_Akashi looked up at the two approaching boys. 'They don't look like they want to play...' He mumbled to himself._

_'Hey! Whatcha you doin' over there? Don't you want to play?' The bigger boy asked, walking towards Akashi._

_Akashi watched them cautiously. 'I would prefer not to. But thank you.' He said as politely as he could muster._

_'Ah, why not? Too good to play with us poor kids? Is that the reason, rich boy?' _

_Akashi felt his cheeks flare. 'No. I just don't really want to play right now.'_

_'Come on, we can go over there and play,' he pointed towards a bridge. 'I'll call over some more of my friends and we'll all play together.' He said, a fake, friendly smile on his face._

_Akashi knew instantly that the boy was threatening him and he knew he would have to go with the other boy, or he'd just be dragged over there anyways._

_The red-haired boy stood up sighing. 'Fine, But I must be on my way soon, please don't keep me too long.'_

_The two boys looked at each other for a minute. 'I must be on my way soon,' The smaller one mimicked, falling into a fit of giggles. _

_'Please don't keep me too long.' The bigger one said, also falling into a fit of laughter._

_Akashi's face darkened. He was often teased about the way he talked. 'Perhaps we can get going, or would you two prefer to roll about in the dirt all day?' Akashi asked, getting annoyed._

_The two boys giggles got even worse as they continued to make absurd impressions of Akashi._

_'Alright then,' Akashi turned to leave. 'I see no reason to stay then, only pigs roll in the dirt. And I am most certainly not a pig.'_

_'Hey! Did you just call us pigs?!' The bigger boy asked, just realizing the he was insulted._

_'I did not technically call you anything, I was just suggesting that I wasn't a pig. If that put you under the impression that I was calling you a pig , well, you would know better than I do if you are or not...' Akashi knew that he shouldn't be provoking these boys, but he couldn't help it, they made fun of him. In Akashi's mind, that means they were proposing a challenge._

_Both boys faces got red with anger. 'Are you saying that I called us pigs? Are you saying I'm stupid?' The older one asked._

_'Well, I was implying that you referred to yourself as a pig. But I did not at any point call you stupid, once again, you saved me the trouble.' Akashi said, staring blankly at the bullies in front of him._

_'That's it.' The bigger one turned and called out to the field. 'Hey guys, this kid wants to play!' The smaller boy cackled as if he was just promised a treat._

_Akashi had a bad feeling, and that feeling got worse as four, much bigger boys came over. And they all looked very excited._

_'What's up, Haizaki?' One of the new gorillas said to the bigger boy who'd already been picking on Akashi._

_Akashi stopped for a minute. 'Your name is Haizaki?' He asked._

_'Yeah, you got a problem with my name?' He said, trying to sound threatening He turned towards the boys. 'I already told you, this kid wants to play.' He said, glaring at the boy who asked._

_The new boys all started cracking their knuckles, or least tried to, most of them only pretended._

_Akashi sighed, why did this happen so often? 'Listen, I don't want to fight, and I can tell you right now that you don't either.' He tried to reason._

_'Fight? Us? Never. We just want to be friends.' The one named Haizaki said, talking in a baby voice. He nodded at two of the other boys, and they grabbed Akashi's arms._

_'Let's take him to the bridge.' He said, nodding towards the bridge._

_Akashi struggled against the hands holding him, but it was futile, they were much bigger than him._

_They carried him all the way to under the bridge, before they finally put him down._

_'Alright, you have me here. What now? I'm warning you, trying to hurt me is not a good idea.' Akashi warned them._

_'Why? You gonna call your daddy on us?' Haizaki taunted._

_'No,' Akashi said, his face starting to burn again. 'I just don't think it's a good idea for you to hurt-' He was cut off as a fist collided with his face._

_'You know what? I'm tired of listening to you talk! Just shut up!' He yelled, kicking Akashi in the stomach._

_Akashi fell to the ground with a hard thump, he tried to stand, but a foot kicked him back to the ground. The foot then smashed right into the side of his face._

_'Come on, aren't cha gonna get up?' One of the boys said, an ugly laugh following his words._

_Akashi couldn't see who was talking, because there were too many stars in his vision. But, he did feel the hands heft him to his feet, as one of the boys started to kick him in stomach again, 'What's wrong rich boy? To scared to fight back? Don't want to break your nails.' He said, puncturing every word with a kick to the stomach._

_Coughing up blood, Akashi went slightly limp._

_'Ah, look, he ain't moving. Maybe the poor baby needs a nap.' Haizaki said, smiling smugly as the other boys laughed._

_Akashi looked up, his eyes flashing dangerously. 'Let. Me. Go.' He said through clenched teeth. 'I'm only giving you one chance.'_

_'Oh no, he's only giving us one chance. What do we do?' The leader said in a mocking voice._

_Akashi listened as they laughed again. Anger finally washed over him, forgetting what he was doing, he elbowed the one holding him right in the stomach, making him let go. He turned and kicked him in the head for good measure. He then turned to face the group of surprised boys. Before they broke out of their daze, Akashi sprinted forward and kneed the one who he knew to be in charge right in the groin. _

_The group of boys all watched as Haizaki fell, they stood dumbfounded as the red-haired boy made his escape up the hill._

_'Don't just stand there! Catch him!' Haizaki gasped from the ground._

_Akashi ran as fast as he could, sprinting up the hill, he just barely moved out of the way as someone on a bicycle sped by._

_'Sorry,' The person yelled, looking over his shoulder. Seeing the injured boy, he hit the brakes on his bike as fast as he could, and jumped off before the bike even stopped moving. 'Are you okay? Your face is all bloody. Is there anything I can do to help?' The person asked, concern showing all over his face._

_Akashi stared at the person, taking in that he was a young boy, probably not much older than Akashi himself. 'I'm fine.' He pointed at the boy's bike. 'Can that fit two?'_

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_'Can't you go faster?' Akashi asked the boy._

_'I'm going as fast as I can. This bike isn't supposed to carry two people!' He said, gasping slightly._

_'Alright, You have a point. Just... hurry.' Akashi told him, glancing over his shoulder._

_'Why? What are we running from? Is it the person who did that to you?' He asked, his feet pedaling as fast as they could. He weaved through corners and over lawns, not slowing down at all._

_'Yes, Or rather, the people.' Akashi said, looking over his shoulder again. He sighed in relief. 'I don't see them, I think you lost them...'_

_'People!? Did they gang up on you?' The stranger asked, slowing the bike down to a complete stop._

_'Well, yes, but don't worry. It's not that bad, I'll be alright.' Akashi told him, climbing off the back of the bike. He winced, his stomach hurt more than he realizied._

_'Alright? You don't look alright to me, no sir, you look horrible!' He told Akashi emphasizing the "horrible" part._

_'Thank you, I'm glad you told me, I might not have figured it out by myself.' Slight sarcasm dripped off Akashi's words._

_'You're welcome. Now, sit down. I'm going to clean your face.' When Akashi started to protest, the boy put his hand on Akashi's mouth. 'Do you really think you can walk around like that? Someone might try to call nine-one-one. And what would your parents say?'_

_Akashi pulled the hand off his mouth. 'First of all, I don't have parents, I have a father. And secondly, He probably wouldn't even notice. Thirdly, you're probably right, I wouldn't want anyone to call nine-one-one, it's not that bad. So if you really want, you can clean my face.' He said, checking off his three fingers as he spoke_

_'Oh, are you sure he wouldn't notice?' The boy said, pulling out some sort of cleaning wipes. He noticed Akashi's quizzical stare and smiled. 'I bring them everywhere, just in case I fall off my bike and scrape my knee or something. That way I can clean all the dirt out before it gets stuck.' He smiled happily. 'I also bring these,' He pulled out a box of bandages, 'but I don't think they can help you...' He looked Akashi up and down._

_'I see... well, at least you're prepared. But... I can't help wondering... does that mean you fall off you're bike often?' Akashi asked the older boy._

_'Not as much I use to.' He replied._

_'Oh...' Akashi trailed off, flinching slightly as the disinfecting wipe stung his face._

_'Okay, now it's your turn, you have to answer my question! Okay?' He said, gently wiping at Akashi's swollen cheek._

_'Alright... Yes, I'm sure my father wouldn't notice, he doesn't care much for me. The only time he looks at me is when he's presenting me to his business partners, so he can brag about how I'm the heir to his family.' Akashi explained to him._

_'Oh... well, that doesn't seem very fun...' He said, pulling the wipe away from Akashi's face. 'There, all better. You can barely tell...'_

_Akashi shrugged, 'We aren't the friendliest family in the world, but it could be worse. At least he doesn't hit me or something. Oh, and thank you...' Akashi said trailing off, he looked at the boy who just cleaned his face and realized that he hadn't even asked his name._

_As if reading his mind the kid smiled. 'Nijimura Shuzo.' He stuck out his hand._

_Akashi grasped the boy's outstretched hand. 'My name is Akashi Seijuro.'_

_'You know what, you talk kinda funny,' He told the younger boy._

_Akashi's face fell, he knew this was going to happen, now this kid is going to make fun of him too._

_'But I think it's cool.' He said as Akashi's eyes lit back up. 'I mean, it just means you're smarter than most kids.' He told him, his eyes twinkling with honesty._

_'Really? Do you really believe that?' Akashi asked, hope brimming in his eyes._

_'Mm-hm, and anyone who tells you different is wrong.'_

_'Thank you, Shuzo, No one has ever said something that nice to me before.' A big smile appeared on Akashi's face._

_Shuzo smiled, 'Well, they should, you're really cool, Akashi-kun.'_

_Akashi's smile got bigger as he wiped a tear out of his eye. 'Thank you.'_

_'Hey,' Shuzo said, sticking out his hand again, 'You don't need to cry, I think you and me should be friends.'_

_Akashi's eyes widened in surprise, he gazed down at Shuzo's outstretched hand and grabbed it with his own. 'Really?'_

_Shuzo nodded. 'Friends.'_

_'Friends.'_

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_By the end of the week Akashi and Shuzo had become fast friends, two weeks past and they were inseparable. By the end of the month, Akashi slept at Shuzo's house every chance he got. They figured out that they go to the same school, so they would just walk down together. Shuzo's mother knew that Akashi had family issues so she let him stay whenever he wanted, as long as the boys promised to be in bed by nine, and did their homework. On the weekends they'd stay up all night talking about everything and nothing. It was the first time Akashi had ever been truly happy._

_'Shuzo!' Akashi yelled, walking into the Nijimura house._

_'Seijuro?' Akashi heard a thumping coming down the stairs. 'Hi, how did the meeting go?' Shuzo asked, flying down the stairs and into the room._

_'Oh, you know, it went as well as any other boring meeting my father drags me to. But, The food was pretty good this time. Here, I brought you some.' He stretched out his full hands._

_'Oh, cool!' Shuzo led the way into the dining room. 'So, what do you want to do today?'_

_Akashi laid out all the food on the table. 'What do you mean today? It's already night time.' He said, punching Shuzo lightly in the arm._

_Shuzo nibbled on some of the food happily. 'Well, let's go do something tonight then!'_

_Akashi smiled, 'Are you sure that's a good idea? Would your mother like that?' Akashi liked Shuzo's mother a lot, unlike his father, she knew how to be a good parent._

_'Well, my mom said as long as we don't go too far... and she's not home, so as long as we get home before her, it shouldn't be a problem' He smiled a mischievous smile that sent shivers down Akashi's back._

_Akashi knew that Shuzo was a very nice, very polite boy. But he was also really smart, and really liked to explore. Just last week, he convinced Akashi to spend the day following a "suspicious van" that led them all the way to the end of town. It took them hours to get back home. But Akashi didn't mind, he just liked to spend time with his friend. But that smile always sent shivers down his spine, Shuzo usually listened to his mother, but it was times like these where he disregarded everything so he could have fun. _

_The truth was, he only acted like that when Akashi couldn't spend all day with him. Akashi realized that sometime ago, but he didn't do anything about it. It made him happy that Shuzo liked him so much. No one else ever liked him that much._

_'So, what do you say, Seijuro? Wanna go explore?' Shuzo asked, his eyes twinkling._

_'I don't see why not... but where do you want to go?' Akashi asked cautiously._

_Shuzo smiled. 'How about the beach?'_

_Akashi thought for a minute, he knew it wasn't a good idea to swim at night, it was also much too cold. But, if Shuzo said is was alright..._

_Shuzo noticed the look on Akashi's face. 'We won't go swimming, I just want to look, I hear it's really pretty this time of night.' He grabbed Akashi's hand, 'if you don't want to though...' He said, trailing off._

_Akashi shook his head. 'No, of course not. I do want to go. I do!'_

_'Yay! Let's go!' Shuzo stood up, pulling Akashi up with him. _

_Akashi let Shuzo pull him up, 'Alright, let's go, but you have to drive.'_

_And that's how Akashi ended up on the back on Shuzo's bike, speeding down the hill and towards the beach._

_Shuzo stopped the bike a half an hour later, he hopped off and held the bike steady so Akashi could hop off to. 'There you go. Isn't it beautiful?'_

_Akashi gazed out at the sparkling ocean. It really was beautiful. He turned to say this to Shuzo, when something hit him in the back of the head. 'Ow.' He looked down to find a rock laying on the ground beside his feet._

_'Seijuro! Are you okay? What happened?' Shuzo asked, putting his hand of the back of Akashi's head._

_The redhead smiled, 'I'm alright, it was just a rock.'_

_A rock? Who threw it?' Shuzo asked, pulling his hand off the back of Akashi's head. He gasped as he noticed the blood on his hand. 'You're bleeding!'_

_'Am I? I feel alright...' Akashi said, swaying slightly._

_Shuzo's eyes flashed dangerously. 'Who's there! Come on out! You hit someone!'_

_'Did I? Darn.' A familiar voice said, drifting out of the darkness._

_Akashi's eyes widened. 'Uh oh' He whispered._

_'What do you mean?' Shuzo asked, turning to face Akashi._

_'I know that voice...' Akashi said, stepping away._

_'Are ya gonna run away again, rich boy? The boy named Haizaki said._

_'Let's get out of here, Shuzo.' _

_Shuzo didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Akashi's hand and pulled him back towards his bike. But they were cut off by two more boys stepping in front of them._

_'Uh oh.' Akashi said again._

_It happened quickly. Hands grabbed the back of Akashi and Shuzo's shirts._

_'Hey! Let us go!' Shuzo yelled, trying to break out of the hold. Meanwhile, Akashi was still dizzy and was having a hard time staying on his feet._

_'Ah, sorry, but you see, me 'n' rich boy have a score to settle. Don't we?' He punctured the last word with his fist smashing into Akashi's stomach._

_Akashi stumbled back, gripping his stomach as he fell to his knees._

_'Seijuro!' Shuzo screamed, struggling to break the grip of the boy holding him._

_Akashi stayed on his knees, afraid that he'd fall over if he stood up. So he wasn't prepared when a foot kicked him in the chin. Lurching his head back, Akashi tasted blood._

_He fell to the ground, shaking slightly. He tried getting up, but his body wouldn't obey him._

_'Seijuro! Seijuro, can you hear me?!' Shuzo yelled. When Akashi didn't answer, Shuzo stomped on the foot of the boy who was holding him, he then brought his elbow back and smashed it against the boy's throat. He ran over to Akashi, picking him up, he turned to run._

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_When Akashi opened his eyes, he was on Shuzo's back. He was carrying him all the way up the hill. 'Shuzo? What happened?'_

_Shuzo turned to smile at him, 'We got away! Now we're going home, don't worry, we're almost there.'_

_Akashi gasped. Shuzo's face was covered in blood, there was a cut on the side of his face and there was blood leaking out of his nose and mouth. 'You're hurt!' He tried to climb off, but Shuzo tightened his grip._

_'It's okay. I'm fine. Just a little bit chilly.' He said with a smile._

_Akahsi was confused until he looked down and saw that Shuzo wasn't wearing a shirt and the reason became clear when he felt his head and found out that there was fabric tied around it. 'Your shirt...'_

_'It's okay, your head was bleeding and I didn't know how bad it was. I didn't want it to get worse.' Shuzo reassured Akashi._

_Shuzo looked up as he felt his shoulder getting wet and the smaller boy on his back shaking._

_'I'm sorry, Shuzo... I'm so sorry. This is all my fault!' There were thick tears streaming out of Akashi's eye's and down his cheeks. 'This is all my fault!' He cried again._

_'Hey, It's okay, I'm happy to help. Are those the people who beat you up when we first met?' He waited until he felt Akashi nod before continuing. 'It's my fault anyway, I shouldn't have dragged you down to the beach. I'm sorry.'_

_'It's alright, you didn't force me, as long as Shuzo's going, then I'll go to! I just want to spend time with you! I don't care what we do!' Akashi cried into Shuzo's shoulder._

_'Thanks, I feel the same way, Seijuro.'_

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_It was months after the incident, and Shuzo and Akashi were closer then ever. It was one particular evening where they were lying on Shuzo's bed in comfortable silence._

_'Seijuro...' Shuzo mumbled into Akashi shoulder._

_'Yes?' Akashi answered, sleepily._

_'Can we talk?' Shuzo asked, sitting up._

_'What is it?' Akashi sat up as well._

_'So, you know how I have really good grades?'_

_'Mm-hm.' Akashi replied suspiciously_

_'Well, My mom got offered a new job...'_

_Akashi nodded, not understanding what this had to do with Shuzo's grades._

_'And it pays really well...'_

_Akashi said nothing._

_'And there's a really good private school that she was looking at...'_

_Akashi continued to say nothing._

_'And I think I'm going to go...'_

_Akashi finally found his voice, 'But, it costs lots of money to go to private school.'_

_'Yeah, but... I have really good grades so... the school said they would pay for most of it... and my mom's new job would be able to pay for the rest...'_

_Akashi stayed silent for a long time. 'That's good, I hope you have fun...' He got up to leave. 'I have to go...'_

_'No, Please, don't leave! I told my mom I didn't want to go, and she said I didn't have to... But, the job pays lots more money... and I would learn lots of new stuff and she thinks it would be easier 'cause the new job will take her away from home...'_

_'It's fine! Just go, don't worry about me!' Akashi shouted._

_'Seijuro, I'm sorry!' Shuzo cried, 'If that's what you want, then I'll stay!'_

_Tears rolled down Akashi's face. 'No, I don't want you to. You've always been so smart. And this is what you want to do! You've always had big dreams! Go, make those dreams come true, just... please don't forget me.'_

_Shuzo threw himself on Akashi. 'I'd never forget you! You're my best friend! I love you, Seijuro. I promise, I'll come back whenever I can and I'll come see you, I swear.' Shuzo sobbed into Akashi's shoulder._

_'I love you too, Shuzo.'_

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_The blissful summer came to an end, Akashi hugged Shuzo one last time before he left._

_'I'm sorry, Seijuro, I've had so much fun. I can't wait until I come back.' Shuzo said, burying his face in Akashi's hair._

_'Don't apologize, just keep your promise, don't forget me.' Akashi said, tears filling his eyes again._

_'I can't even if I wanted to... You're my best friend, nobody that I meet will ever compare to you.'_

_Akashi nodded. 'Goodbye, Nijimura Shuzo.' He stuck out his hand._

_Shuzo sniffed and grasped his hand. 'Goodbye, Akashi Seijuro.'_

_'Remember,' Akashi said. 'Friends.'_

_'Friends.' Shuzo agreed._

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Well, that's all, That was pretty long, and I hope it answered all of the questions about Nijimura and Akashi. Overall, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so feel free to tell me your thoughts!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey, how's it going y'all? Akaku-chan here~! I want to say thanks for so much support, I really appreciate all the reviews, the follows and the favourites. So thank you my awesome fans! Enjoy chapter eight.

All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

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Chapter Eight, Reasons.

Akashi opened his eyes and felt tears sliding down his cheeks. He put his hand gingerly to his face.

'Shuzo... shit! How did I forget?' He said, rubbing his temples. Thinking about it now, everything became clear. And he knew the reason he couldn't remember as well, after Shuzo left despite what Akashi told him, he really suffered. He hid away in his room for days, after school started it was a fight to make him attend, he didn't want to leave his bed, and he most certainly didn't want to make new friends. He was thirteen when he became a "fugitive," as Imayoshi politely put it. But that was a story for another day. After the "incident" (that's what Akashi liked to call it) he really opened his eyes. He regretted the way he acted. So he pushed it all from his memories. Pushing away Nijimura Shuzo with them.

'Hi, Aka-chin.' Murasakibara said, standing in the doorway.

'Oh, Hello, Atsushi. Do you need something?' Akashi said, slightly surprised.

'Um... I heard you were sick.. and Muro-chin said not to... but I brought you a snack...' Murasakibara said, blushing slightly. 'I... made it myself...'

Akashi smiled as he accepted the parcel. Opening it, he let out a little gasp of surprise.

Inside the parcel was the most beautifully crafted cake Akashi had ever seen. He smiled down at the gorgeous creation. 'Thank you, Atsushi, it's beautiful.' He took a small scoop of icing on his finger and popped it in his mouth. 'Mm, it tastes just as good as it looks.'

Murasakibara blushed again. 'Thanks... Aka-chin...'

'By the way, is Tatsuya with you now?' Akashi asked, taking another bite out of his cake.

'Muro-chin? Um... no... he should be on his way though... why...?'

'I need to ask him something.' Akashi replied.

'Oh, Well, I'll go call him...' Murasakibara walked out of the room.

Akashi could hear him talking through the door. 'Muro-chin~? Are you coming yet~?' Akashi heard Murasakibara whine into the phone. Silence followed for a minute. 'But I miss you...' More silence. 'Okay, thanks, I love you...' Murasakibara walked back into the room, a mischievous smile creeping across his face. 'He said that he was coming, even if it means he has to run...'

Akashi laughed. 'Thank you, Atsushi.'

The door flew open at an alarming speed and Himuro flew into the room. 'I'm here, Atsushi! What's wrong?!'

The smile melted off Murasakibara's face and was replaced with the look of an abandoned child. 'I was so lonely...'

'I'm sorry, but I had class... forgive me?' Himuro asked, grabbing the bigger boy's hand.

'I guess, but I think Aka-chin wants to talk to you first.' He answered, winking at Akashi.

Akashi watched amazed, he just witnessed an amazing act of manipulation.

'Ahem,' Akashi cleared his throat. 'I was wondering, you wouldn't happen to have Nijimura Shuzo's phone number, would you?

'Nijimura? Yeah, why?' Himuro asked, confused.

'Oh, I just wanted to... thank him for his help yesterday...' Akashi said, looking away.

Himuro raised an eyebrow. 'Yesterday? It was two days ago now, you slept all through yesterday.'

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After a little bit of yelling and confusion, Akashi learned that he did in fact sleep in all day yesterday, and that would explain why he was so hungry. Himuro explained that Akashi did wake up once or twice, but after going to the bathroom, he just went right back to sleep.

Akashi was shocked, he didn't even remember waking up. But he certanly felt better. After scaring Himuro with his yelling, Akashi got the phone number and Himuro and Murasakibara took their leave.

Akashi took a deep breath and tapped the number into his phone, holding his breath he put it to his ear.

It rang four times before Nijimura picked up.

'Hello?'

Akashi's voice hitched in his throat.

'Hello?' Nijimura's voice said again.

'Shuzo? It's me, Akashi.'

'...Akashi? Can I help you?' Nijimura asked, sounding politely confused.

'Shuzo... can we talk... in person?'

'Shuzo? Aren't you being a little _too_ familiar?' Nijimura said, slight interest laced in his words.

'No, I think I'm being familiar enough. Please come as fast as you can.' Akashi said, trying to keep his voice steady.

'Of course, I'll be there right away, You're still in the Hospital Wing, correct?'

'That is correct.' Akashi hung up the phone and waited, trying to keep his calm.

Akashi was getting even more anxious. About ten minutes later, he heard a small knock on the door, it opened and Nijimura walked in.

'You called, Akashi?' Nijimura said, gliding confidently into the room.

Now that Akashi remembered him, slight pain went through his chest, Akashi only meant to ask Nijimura a few questions, but as he opened his mouth, he felt a huge mixture emotion overcome him.

'Please, call me Seijuro. It seems only right, don't you agree?' Akashi said, his voice shaking.

Sensing danger Nijimura spoke up. 'Seijuro, please. Let me explain...' He started, but Akashi cut him off.

'Let you explain?! You want me to let you explain? Explain what exactly? Are you going to try to explain why it is you never came home? Not once did you even come over, did you not come home at all?! I was a wreck! If you came back once, only once, then maybe I would have been alright! You promised you wouldn't forget me! You promised that you would come see me! Do you know how depressed I became?! You never even answered your Goddamn cellphone! Where the hell did you go?!' Akashi shouted, his breath hitching in his throat.

Nijimura listened to Akashi's explosion without even opening his mouth. Only now did he talk. 'Listen, Seijuro, I understand why you're angry, but let me explain.' He cleared his throat and sat down. 'When I first came to school, I was having a really hard time, I missed you so much, that it hurt. I wanted to call you every night, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was worried that you didn't miss me, and that you would take me for a coward. You were always so strong, standing next to you, I felt weak. After a few weeks, I still couldn't help but think of you. So, I was just about to cave in when a member of the middle school council approached me, and asked me to join the council. I was surprised, I heard a rumour that first years never made the school council in middle school. I wasn't very interested at first, but I went to the first meeting and I met Imayoshi. So, listening to Imayoshi talk, I realized something, I realized, that I really wanted to join the council.'

Akashi stared at him, he didn't understand why Nijimura was telling him all this.

'So I did, I joined the council and I finally felt strong, I felt the way that I felt when I helped you on the beach. I didn't feel like I needed to depend on you anymore.' He held up his hand when Akashi tried to protest. 'I didn't say I forgot about you, I said I didn't need to depend on you. And then when holidays finally came, I was so excited that I could tell you everything, that by the time I got home I had a list of things I wanted to tell you. When I got home, I was just about to go see you, when my mom told me she hadn't seen you around at all while she was at home. So I went by your house, but your Caretaker told me that you wouldn't see any guests. But I persisted and told her to tell you it was me, she went upstairs and when she came back down, she told me that you refused to come see me. I was so horrified that you didn't want to see me, that I ran all the way home, I was too scared to come visit you again, it was only when the holidays ended that I calmed down enough to realize that your father never really... cared for me. So I tried to call your phone, but in my haste to leave, I had forgotten my phone at school. When I got to school, I tried calling you right away, but you didn't answer. I left at least thirty messages, I finally decided that you must have lost your phone somehow. So I caved in and called your home phone. It was your father that I talked to.'

Akashi looked at Nijimura in shock, 'My father? Why did my father talk to you?'

Nijimura shook his head, 'At the time I couldn't tell you, but I can now. He told me that I was to stop calling you, or he was going to call the police. He continued to give me big lecture on how I was a horrible influence on you, and that I ruined your future.'

'That's not true!' Akashi yelled, but Nijimura held his hand up again.

'I know, but that's not the point! He was trying to convince me to stay away...' He looked down, clearly ashamed of himself. 'And I believed him... I knew I couldn't call you, I didn't want to get arrested.' He dropped his face in his hands. 'I thought you really hated me, I thought I really did destroy you... the next time I heard of you was when I went home again and I saw you in the paper. When you were suspected of armed assault...'

Akashi fell back onto his bed. 'I didn't do it... It wasn't me!' He said, on the verge of screaming now.

'I know, at the time I was confused. I knew you would never attack someone. At least, the Seijuro I knew wouldn't.' He gave Akashi a warm smile, 'So when the school year started and I saw your name on the first year roster I was so relieved, I knew that meant you got off. But also the thought of us going to school together again got me so excited, I went out right away on the first day to find you, but then my past insecurities came back, and I began to think, 'what do I do if I find him? What if he hates me? What if he doesn't remember me?' I was so scared that I stayed away. Then later that evening I heard that they caught a red-haired first year out of bed, and I had a feeling. It was only a hunch, but I went as fast as I could, because I knew it was Imayoshi who caught you, and I knew that he saw your private file.'

Akashi stared at him, dumbfounded. 'So, you did look for me? It was all my fault?' Akashi stood up as fast as he could. 'I'm sorry, Shuzo. I should have listened. Forgive me?

'Of course, Seijuro, I can't stay mad at you.'

Akashi smiled, 'Thank you, Shuzo.'

Nijimura pulled Akashi into a tight hug, Akashi hugged him back, his eye wandering to the door behind Nijimura, he saw it close slowly and quietly, but just before it closed, Akashi was sure that he saw the familiar gleam of a shockingly blue eye.

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Well, that's all, it was kind of short but the last chapter was pretty long so this was sort of a break I guess. Tell me what you thought, and I'll see you next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys, I'm releasing this chapter early on the account of how many negative comments I got on the last chapter, it seems that no one was very happy with it. But if you guys stick around I wrapped it all up in this chapter, so hopefully I won't lose my entire fan-base because of one chapter, so to those of you who are still reading, enjoy!

All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

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Chapter Nine, Walking On Clouds.

'Tetsuya? Is that you, Tetsuya?' Akashi said, pulling away from Nijimura. He glanced at the older boy, 'How much do you think he heard?'

Nijimura shook his head, 'I don't know, you'll have to ask him.' He ruffled Akashi's hair.'Go, but remember, he might not be upset for the reasons you think. It may be something entirely different.'

Akashi was confused. 'What do you mean?'

Nijimura patted his shoulder. 'Just go catch him.'

Akashi nodded and ran out the door.

'Let's hope he catches up to him, and let's hope that he figures out what I meant.' Said Nijimura, running his hand through his hair.

'Tetsuya! Tetsuya, wait!' Akashi shouted, catching sight of the blue-haired boy.

Kuroko glanced over his shoulder and he sped up.

_'Run as fast as you can, Tetsuya, but I saw you in gym. And if I'm correct...' _Akashi smiled, just as he predicted, Kuroko was slowing down.

Akashi grabbed Kuroko's arm, jerking Kuroko back, and tripping the both of them.

'Let me go, Akashi-kun!' Kuroko yelled, surprising Akashi.

'Wait, why are you running from me?' Akashi asked, gripping Kuroko's arm.

'Because... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I won't tell anyone anything that I heard, I promise, just leave me alone!' He cried, trying to disguise the unhappiness in his voice.

Unfortunately for Kuroko, Akashi picked up on the hurt in his voice and a look of worry flickered on his face. 'Tetsuya, what's wrong?' He asked, letting go of Kuroko's arm and grabbing his hand instead.

'Let go of me! Shouldn't you be talking to Nijimura-senpai?! Why are you here?!' Kuroko said, trying to pull away from Akashi's stronger grip.

'Tetsuya! Stop, and tell me what the hell you're talking about.' Akashi asked, not letting go of the angry boy.

Kuroko stopped struggling and went limp. 'I didn't mean to listen in, I just was coming to check on you... but when I got there, Nijimura-senpai was there. And you were yelling, so I was about to go in and see what was going on, but then he started to talk. I couldn't help but listen to what he had to say, I never realized that he knew who you were. I really didn't mean to listen in, I swear. I just couldn't help it, I swear I won't tell anyone...' Kuroko said, tears in his eyes. 'Please, don't hate me...'

'Whatever, I don't care about that, I want to know why you're mad at me. And don't pretend you're not.' Akashi said, looking Kuroko directly in the face.

'Nothing, I'm fine...' Kuroko looked away from Akashi.

'We have two entirely different versions of "fine" Tetsuya. I don't think you're fine...'

'You're the one who can flawlessly read me. So why don't you figure it out?' Kuroko snapped. In reality, Kuroko didn't want Akashi to figure it out, but he also wanted to see him try, he wanted to see if Akashi would fail. But then again, Akashi might just tell Kuroko to stop being childish, and leave.

Akashi stared at Kuroko, trying to figure out what was wrong. It was an emotion that Akashi hadn't ever seen on Kuroko, but one he use to see all through growing up.

'Are you... jealous?' Akashi asked, he'd seen that look enough times to be sure.

Kuroko's face became slightly red, but he turned his head to look directly at Akashi, slight amazement in his eyes. 'How do you do that?'

Akashi smiled, he put a finger to his mouth and said, 'It's a secret.'

The blue-haired boy turned his head again. 'Why would I be jealous?'

Akashi thought for a minute, remembering the words Kuroko used only a few minutes ago. _'Shouldn't you be talking to Nijimura?' _A small light went off in Akashi's head, he then thought to just two days ago, _'You mean a lot to me too.' _His eyes widened in surprise. 'Tetsuya, are you... were you...' He trailed off, too flustered to finish.

Kuroko pushed himself up into a sitting position. He stared directly into Akashi's eyes, waiting for him to finish.

Akashi looked away, he couldn't look into those challenging eyes.

'Akashi-kun, you look scared. Have I upset you?' Kuroko asked, the tears finally falling down his cheeks.

He looked at the smaller boy again, 'No, you haven't. I just... I don't know what to say... but I can tell you one thing, he was my best friend when we were younger we were practically brothers, but we were nothing more than just that.' Akashi told the blue-haired boy, wiping the tears off his face.

'Really?' Kuroko asked. Akashi nodded, Kuroko wrapped his arm around him. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run.'

Akashi hugged him back. 'It's alright, I don't care at all, I actually thought you were running because you heard about the "incident" and you wanted nothing to do with me... I guess I was acting pretty dumb, wasn't I?' He said, smiling weakly.

Kuroko shook his head. 'That will never happen, I already told you, I don't care who you think you use to be, I care about who you are now. Also, I'm the one being dumb, running away like that...'

They stared at each other and started to laugh. 'Well, maybe we're both dumb.' Akashi said, catching his breath.

'Yeah, they probably shouldn't let us out of the house. At least, not without protection...' Kuroko added cheerfully.

They both laughed again for a few more minutes before calming down.

'I really am sorry, Akashi-kun.' Kuroko said after a short while.

'It's alright. You would think since I see everything, I would have noticed you at the door.' Akashi pointed out.

'True.' Kuroko agreed. 'But people don't usually notice me even if I'm standing right next to them.'

The redhead nodded, 'But I'm different.'

Kuroko agreed silently, Akashi was definitely different.

Akashi smiled and hugged Kuroko again. 'I'm glad you aren't mad anymore...'

Kuroko blushed, Akashi was really warm, and before Kuroko knew what he was doing, he pressed his mouth against Akashi's.

Akashi's eyes widened. But very slowly, they closed.

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'Aomine-chii~! Aomine-chii~! Stop ignoring me!' A voice shouted, breaking Aomine Daiki out of his thoughts.

He looked at the annoying blonde boy standing over him. 'Yes, Kise?' He asked, obviously annoyed.

'You've been sitting there spaced out for the last ten minutes! We should really be getting to class!' Kise said, indignantly.

'I'm comin', calm the hell down.' Aomine said, making no attempt to get up.

'Really! Do you have to be so rude?!' Kise said, looking offended.

Aomine put his hand on Kise's shoulder and said. 'Yes, yes I do.'

Kise smacked his hand away and turned to leave. 'Fine, I'll just tell the teacher that you decided to sleep instead.'

'I was just kidding. Come on, Kise, I'm sorry.' Aomine said, grabbing the back of Kise's shirt.

The blonde turned to look at him. 'Fine,' He said, 'but you need to stop with that obnoxious attitude. I don't care if you don't like Akashi, but you need to stop taking it out on me!'

Aomine looked at the ground, 'Okay, sorry... I'll try...' He gave Kise his best puppy dog eyes.

Kise sighed, 'Okay, okay! Stop looking at me like that, I forgive you.' Kise smiled and stuck his hand out to Aomine. 'Let's go.'

The tanned teen smirked and grabbed Kise's hand. Pulling himself up, he said. 'So, is it true that Tetsu skipped class today?'

Kise nodded. 'Well, not really, he missed one class. He told the teacher that his friend was in the hospital wing and he wanted to visit him. And well, you know how hard it is to say no to Kuroko-chii. He just stared at the teacher until he crumbled and let him go.' Kise said, shaking his head in admiration.

'Yeah, Midorima came over to us yesterday, and told Tetsu that his friend was taken to the hospital wing.' Aomine told the blonde boy.

'Ooh, Who was it? Do I know them?' Kise asked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

'Yeah, it was Akashi...'

'Oh my God! That poor boy is not having an easy first few days, is he?' Kise said, relishing in the gossip.

'Whatever.' Aomine grunted, walking towards the classroom.

Kise rolled his eyes. 'You are such a brat.'

Aomine looked offended. 'I am not a brat!'

'Yes you are. You act as if everyone should just bend their knee to you. Also, you strut.' Kise said, nodding to himself.

'I do not strut!' Aomine said indignantly.

'Oh, yes you do, you liar.' Kise said, smiling slightly.

'It's true, you do.' A curt voice said behind them.

Kise and Aomine exchanged a scowl and turned around.

'Hi, Midorima-chii, how are you?' Kise said, trying for a smile.

Midorima pushed his glasses up, 'Fine, I guess.'

Kise flinched, he knew he needed to change the topic before he got hit by one of Midorima's famous rants. Luckily, Aomine rescued them both.

'So, is he gonna live?' Aomine asked.

'Akashi? Of course, though, I heard him screaming at Nijimura earlier.' Midorima said, he looked slightly annoyed about being cut off before he could tell his friends about his horrible day.

Aomine looked interested. 'Why?'

Kise started rocking on the balls of his feet. 'I hope it wasn't something serious...'

That was Kise, all he wanted was for everyone to be happy. Something neither Midorima nor Aomine cared much about.

'You're guess is as good as mine. I was just going to visit him, so I could give him his class notes. But I heard yelling and thought it best to leave.' Midorima told them, pushing his glasses up again.

'Did you hear anything? Anything at all?' The blue-haired teen asked, hungry for any details. It wasn't often that people got angry with Nijimura.

'I'm not sure, something about broken promises and depression.' Midorima said.

Kise got a dazed, curious look on his face. 'I wonder, who was depressed. And who was breaking promises.'

'I don't know, but I do know one thing, Kuroko was on his way there when I left. And even though I told him not to go, he went anyways, so there's a high chance that he heard. Now, I'm leaving. Unlike you two, I actually care about getting to class on time.' Midorima pushed past them and started to head down the hallway.

Aomine and Kise watched him go. 'I wonder why Midorima-chii wasn't in class...' Kise said to Aomine.

He shook his head, 'I dare you to ask him.'

'I would, but he'd probably just hit me.' Kise replied.

Aomine agreed, and they walked into their classroom, just barely missing the bell.

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Kuroko and Akashi walked back to the hospital wing together, both blushing deeply.

Akashi couldn't help but think of the kiss. He knew he shouldn't have let Kuroko kiss him, he knew his father would be most displeased. But he didn't _want _to stop Kuroko, he had enjoyed it, he really did. He liked the way Kuroko's mouth seemed to fit his perfectly, he liked the way Kuroko's body pressed against him. But despite all of that, Akahsi knew that if his father figured out, he wouldn't be allowed to go to Teiko any longer. He also knew that he needed to talk with Kuroko about all this, but he didn't want to. He wanted to allow himself to enjoy it for a little while before it all blew up in his face. And besides, how did he even know that Kuroko meant anything by it? What if the kiss meant nothing to the other boy, and Akashi was just living in some fantasy world? _'Becuse,' _He thought. _'I know that Tetsuya isn't like that, I know that Tetsuya would never do something like that to anyone.'_

Kuroko on the other hand, was walking on clouds. He was surprised that he could work up the courage to actually kiss Akashi. At first he was worried that Akashi would push him away and tell him off for being disgusting. So when Akashi's arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer, it was like a dream. He could still remember clearly the first time Aomine kissed him, it was nothing like the kiss he just shared with Akashi. Aomine was a lot bigger than Kuroko, but Akashi was just the right size. As soon as Kuroko actually kissed him, Akashi had taken charge, but he stayed loose enough so that if Kuroko had second thoughts or wasn't enjoying what Akashi was doing, he could pull away. It's not that Aomine was mean, he just liked to be in control. Kuroko could tell that Akashi liked to be in control as well, but at least he's nice about it.

They walked in silence until they made it to the hospital wing.

'Well, I guess this is our stop...' Kuroko said, finally breaking the silence.

'Yes, I guess it is...' Akashi replied, glancing around, 'Can you come in with me? I think I'm going to try and convince the nurse to let me go now.'

Kuroko nodded. 'If you want.'

They walked in together, Kuroko waited as Akashi spoke with the nurse. He watched as Akashi charmed the nurse, explaining that he was okay now and he didn't want to miss anymore classes or his father would be displeased. Kuroko watched in amazement as the nurse actually fell for it.

Akashi walked over to where Kuroko was sitting and stuck out his hand, just like a true gentleman.

'Shall we go?' Akashi asked, a smirk on his face.

Kuroko grasped the outstretched hand and allowed Akashi to pull him up. 'Thank you, and I guess we should.' He answered, trying not to blush.

They walked out hand and hand, not noticing the person standing behind the door, watching them leave.

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Well, that's all, I hope you guys liked it.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey all, Oh my God! I'm so excited, I can't believe I made it up to chapter ten! Thank you all for your continued support. You guys are the best! Sorry for not posting on Sunday as I usually do, but, like I said in chapter nine, I posted that one really early, but it was still last weeks chapter. So sorry for the wait~! I also wanted to thank everyone for the nice reviews last chapter, It really made my day. No more rambling, enjoy chapter ten~!

All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki.

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Chapter Ten, Holding hands.

It was cold and wet outside. But Akashi and Kuroko were still out there taking a walk together. They walked in silence, but not the kind of silence that left an awkward ring in the air. No, it was the kind of silence that left a comfortable feeling in the air, the kind that made you want to hug the person you're sharing the silence with.

'Tetsuya?' Akashi said, finally breaking the silence.

'Yes?' Kuroko replied.

'You know that field trip that's coming up? The one at the end of the month, that all the teachers mentioned today?' Akashi asked, coming to a complete stop.

'Yes...' Kuroko answered, curiously. The teachers had been talking about it all day. So, it was inevitable that you would learn about it.

Akashi started fidgeting with his school tie. 'I was thinking, perhaps, we could go together...? I mean, I know that we're all going anyways, but maybe we could spend time together during the trip... or something...' He finished lamely.

Kuroko stifled a laugh. 'Are you asking me to hang out with you, Akashi-kun?'

The redhead nodded, a blush appearing on his face. He knew Kuroko was making fun of him, but he also knew that he wasn't being mean about it.

'Of course I'll hang out with you, it'll be just like a date.' Kuroko said, cheerfully.

Akashi laughed, 'There will be no misbehavior. That means no sneaking off alone. Understand me?' Akashi said, in a perfect imitation of the strict teacher.

Kuroko laughed as well, 'Yes, because warning us now will really make it stick.'

They both smiled, remembering the month-early lecture they got.

_'Now class, I know you've heard a lot about this "field trip" but listen up, I know it's early but most of you are probably already making plans. There will be no misbehavior, that means , following all the rules, you may bring a limited amount of food, yes, Murasakibara-san, I'm talking to you. You will listen to your second and third year representative and your guide. And that means, no sneaking off alone. Understand me?'_

Of course they understood, but how many of them were actually going to listen was the real question.

Himuro told Kuroko and Akashi that this field trip was a first year tradition, but it was also an excuse for the school to show off how much money it had.

_'But it's also tradition for the students to sneak off after hours. Most of the teachers only pretend to care. But in reality, they know the students are going to get away anyways, so why even bother.' Himuro told them._

_'But, Muro-chin, how much food can I bring? Murasakibara whined._

_'Well, probably only a small bag... but it's okay, the second year rep might share if you're nice enough...' Himuro said with a wink._

Akashi had connected quickly that Himuro was probably suggesting that he was going to be the second year representative.

The trip was going to take place at the end of the month, they would be leaving early morning and staying in a hotel for one night and coming back the following afternoon. They made sure that it was on the weekend, so not to make the students miss any school.

'Akashi-kun, can we go inside now? I'm cold.' Kuroko asked, breaking Akashi out of his thoughts.

'Oh, yes of course.' Akashi replied, shaking himself out of his daze.

He grabbed Kuroko's hand and started towards the doors. Before they got there, the door swung open. Aomine walked out, he glanced at Kuroko and stopped.

'Hey, Tetsu, what's up?' He asked, completely ignoring Akashi.

'Nothing really, just walking with Akashi-kun, what about you?' Kuroko said, trying to hide his hand (which was linked with Akashi's) behind his back.

Aomine's eyes traveled down to their hands before Kuroko could hide them. Saying nothing, he continued to talk to Kuroko, until their conversation landed on the school trip.

'So, are you planning on sneaking out, Aomine-kun?' Kuroko asked blankly.

Aomine smiled a devilish smile. 'Yeah, I'm tryin' to convince the other guys to come with me. Murasakibara was all for it, he said as long as we stopped at the store. Midorima, well, he's Midorma. He'll probably come, but for now he's just...' Aomine trailed off.

'Being Midorima-kun?' Kuroko supplied.

'Yeah, he's being Midorima about it. Kise's a little twitchy about the whole thing, you know, with his mom being the Headmistress and shit...' Aomine said, ticking off his fingers.

'Wait,' Akashi said, turning to Kuroko. 'Ryouta's mother is the Headmistress?'

Aomine looked annoyed that Akashi interrupted him, but he said nothing and let Kuroko talk.

'Oh, yes she is, did no one tell you?' Kuroko asked, turning towards Akashi.

Akashi shook his head. 'No, I was unaware. Not that it really matters, nor does it make sense for anyone to tell me.' Akashi reasoned with himself

'He doesn't like to tell people because they tend to start treating him differently. He wants people to like him naturally.' Kuroko said, squeezing Akashi's hand.

Akashi nodded in understanding. 'That makes sense.'

'As I was sayin',' Aomine said loudly, 'Are you gonna come with us, Tetsu?'

Kuroko looked at Akashi and back at Aomine. 'Well, I already kind of have plans...'

Aomine raised an eyebrow, 'More important than hanging out with your friends, I mean your real friends?' He asked, giving Akashi a small sneer.

'Well, I was going to hang out with Akashi-kun...' Kuroko said, shuffling his feet.

'No, Tetsuya, it's fine. If you want to, then you spend time with your friends. I'll entertain myself.' Akashi spoke up, letting go of Kuroko's hand.

'There you have it, Akashi says he'll "entertain" himself. So you can come with us.' Aomine said, ruffling the blue-eyed boy's hair.

Kuroko looked down at his now empty hand, 'But... Akashi-kun, you said...'

'Forget what I said, just... forget it.' The red-haired boy said. He smiled at Kuroko, 'It's alright, I'll find something else to do.'

Kuroko looked at Akashi's sad eyes. He really wanted Akashi to tell Aomine no, that he wanted to hang out with Akashi, he didn't want to be the one to do it again. Giving a sigh, Kuroko looked at his feet. Is it too much to ask for a friend who could actually stand up to Aomine?

'There, it's been decided. Tetsu, you can come with us, and Akashi... well, I don't even kinda care what you do.' The tanned teen said, a smirk on his face.

Akashi cleared his throat, 'Actually, nothing has been decided. Tetsuya hasn't even told us what he wants to do yet. It doesn't really matter what _we _want, it's Tetsuya that we're talking about here.' He turned towards Kuroko, 'What is it that _you_ want to do, Tetsuya?'

Kuroko looked at Akashi and realized something. The reason Akashi wasn't telling Aomine off wasn't because he was scared, he just wanted Kuroko to fight his own battles.

'Listen, Tetsu has been our friend for years, there's no way he doesn't want to come with us. The only reason he's sayin' he's not sure is 'cause he's nice and doesn't want to hurt yer feelings.' Aomine said, grabbing Kuroko and pulling him over, 'Ain't that right, Tetsu?'

Kuroko, being squished by Aomine didn't answer.

'Would you stop holding him like that? He is obviously displeased.' Akashi said, irritation flickering in his intelligent eyes.

'If Tetsu was... what was it you said? Oh yeah, "displeased" then he'd tell me. He's not a kid, remember?' Aomine sneered.

'Oh, I'm sorry, I had assumed that someone "who has been friends with him for years," Akashi quoted in the air, 'would know that Tetsuya doesn't express himself like we do. And if you were really his friend, then you'd be able to tell when he is obviously unhappy.' He said, narrowing his eyes.

An angry glint past over Aomine's handsome face. 'What are you sayin'?' He asked, his voice threatening

'I was just suggesting that perhaps you are not as good of a friend as you may think.' Akashi explained. He had to look up to talk to the taller boy, but he gave off the impression that he was looking down on him.

Aomine stared at Akashi, anger flashing though his dark eyes. 'You know what? Just because Tetsu feels sorry for you, doesn't mean that you're actually special. Did you ever think that he wanted you to stop following him around like a puppy? It's kinda pathetic.'

Akashi felt like he got smacked in the face, but he wasn't the only one who felt that way. While Aomine talked, Kuroko broke out of his grip and smacked him across the face.

'Take that back, Aomine-kun. Akashi-kun's my friend, I don't feel sorry for him, and he is not pathetic. Akashi-kun is stronger then anyone else I know.' Kuroko's voice was eerily calm, but Akashi could see his trembling fist and could tell the he was furious.

Aomine stared at Kuroko in shock, 'What is wrong with you? I thought we were friends.' He said, hurt in his voice.

'We are, but Akashi-kun's my friend too. So you have to treat him like my friend.' Kuroko said, glaring at Aomine.

'When are you going to give this up? You've known him for a week! You've known me for six years!' Aomine's voice shook, but only for a second.

'It doesn't matter! I like Akashi-kun, I like him a lot. And if you have a problem with that then I guess we'll have to rethink our friendship!' The smaller boy said, his voice raising an octave.

'Tetsuya...' Akashi started, he didn't like Aomine, but he knew that Kuroko did, and didn't want Kuroko to injure his friendship with Aomine because of him.

'No, I'm tired of Aomine deciding who I'm friends with, and you know what? If I want a new boyfriend then he can't stop me from getting one!' A blush appeared on Kuroko's face as he realized what he just said.

Both Aomine and Akashi's eyes widened, but for two different reasons.

'A new boyfriend? Are you saying that you and Aomine... went out?' Akashi asked, surprised. On the inside he probably knew, but he didn't want to admit to that.

'Do you like Akashi that way, Tetsu?' Aomine asked, equally surprised.

Kuroko started shuffling his feet. He hadn't meant to let that slip, it just kind of happened.

'Mine-chin, Kuro-chin, this is easily solved... why doesn't Aka-chin come with us on the field trip...?' Murasakibara's voice rang out, saving Kuroko from answering either of the questions.

Akashi turned around, closely followed by Aomine, 'Murasakibara, how long have you been there?' Aomine asked, worried that he might have heard some of their conversation.

'Yes, how long have _all _of you been there?' Akashi added, scanning around to find the other two hidden boys.

Before Aomine could ask what Akashi meant, both Kise and Midorima came out from behind the door.

'Long enough.' Midorima said, pushing his glasses up in distaste.

'Yeah, he's right, you guys really shouldn't fight. You two are such good friends.' Kise said, worry passing over his pretty face.

Aomine's face softened. 'Ah, Kise. You don't have to worry, me and Tetsu were just talking and had a little... disagreement.'

'A "little disagreement?" Please, do you think that we couldn't hear you? The teachers could practically hear you.' Midorima said, talking over Kise.

Murasakibara nodded. 'And the people who were already hiding when we got here.'

Akashi was confused. 'There was people already listening in? Not just you three?'

Kise shook his head, 'No, but don't worry, they were probably just Aomine-chii's fanclub.'

Akashi looked at Kuroko in surprise. 'Daiki has a fanclub?'

Kuroko nodded, 'Yeah, he's really popular. It's not just girls, but boys too.'

The redhead looked surprised. 'Really? With that awful... never mind.' Akashi said, deciding it would probably be a bad idea to say that Aomine had an awful personality since Kuroko had just told Aomine off for saying mean things about him for no reason.

'Well, if we're done fighting, why don't the six of us go get something to eat?' Kise asked, once again trying to keep everyone happy.

'Well, I don't have anything better to do... so I guess I can come with you.' Midorima answered stiffly.

'Yay... food, and Ki-chin's paying...' Murasakibara said, obviously agreeing.

'Well, if Kise's paying. Why not?' Said Aomine.

'Alright, if you want, but I want a milkshake.' Kuroko replied.

'Tetsuya, are you sure? I don't need to come.' Akashi mumbled.

'I want you to.' Kuroko whispered frimly.

He grabbed Akashi's hand and pulled him inside behind everyone else.

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On the way to lunch, they all talked animatedly. Kise rambled on about nothing to anyone who would listen. Midorima was trying to explain to Murasakibara that he needed to have his lucky item or he would have terrible luck all day, but Murasakinbara was only pretending to listen, instead thinking about the food he was going to eat. Aomine was trying to keep up on his conversation with Kise, but it was obvious by the way he kept shooting looks at Akashi over his shoulder that he wasn't listening. Akashi was ignoring the looks as he talked to Kuroko, a smile playing on his face.

'Wait, guys,' Kise said, coming to a halt. 'There's no way I can't pay for all six of us, especially with Murasakibara-chii here.'

'Hey... what's that supposed to mean...?' Murasakibara asked, tugging on Kise's hair.

'Owie... stop...!' Kise whined loudly.

'It's alright, Ryouta, I can help pay.' Akashi said, reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out his wallet and flipped it open. 'How much do you need?' He asked, producing over one hundred dollars.

Kise eye's widened. 'Do you come from a rich family?' He asked in awe.

Akashi looked down at his feet. 'Yes, have you never heard of the Akashi family?'

The blonde thought for a moment. 'You know what... I think I have...'

'Yes, we're quite famous businessmen. We're known for our... unusual methods...' A small blush appeared on Akashi's face.

'Well, that's alright. Like I always say, don't judge on family status alone.' The golden-eyed boy said, giving him a charming smile.

Akashi smiled and handed him the money. 'Use as much as you like, we wouldn't Atsushi to go hungry.'

Murasakibara nodded. 'That would be bad... but it's okay... Aka-chin's nice. See, I told you, Ki-chin, I told you that Aka-chin was nice.'

Kise accepted the money from Akashi. 'Thank you.' He said, smiling happily. 'And you're right Murasakibara-chii, he is nice.'

Akashi smiled again, he looked down when he felt pressure on his hand and realized that Kuroko had grabbed his hand.

They walked for a few more minutes until they arrived at the long staircase that took them down to the hallway that led to the lunchroom.

Students milled around the staircase. A group of people walking by stopped to talk to Aomine for a minute.

'The basketball team.' Kuroko explained. 'They adore Aomine-kun.'

'Can we go? Standing at the top like this makes me feel like I'm going to fall.' Kise said, shuddering slightly.

As the basketball team left, the six finally started making their way down the long staircase.

About two steps down Akashi felt a hand slide on his back, he hesitated thinking it was Tetsuya again, when the hand pushed him forward. He felt a tug in his hand and realized that he was still holding Kuroko's hand. Not wanting Kuroko to fall with him, he let go of the other boy's hand.

He heard someone scream his name as he fell. It was just then that Akashi noticed how long the staircase was. He never had vertigo before, but fear went racing through his body as he fell forward. Akashi knew that if he fell down all these stairs the chances of not breaking any bones was slim.

A hand shot out with surprising speed and caught the falling boy.

Akashi opened his eyes and saw Murasakibara holding him. 'Atsushi? Did you catch me?' He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Murasakibara nodded, his face was pale but his hold on Akashi was firm.

'But how...?' Akashi asked, confused. 'How did you catch me? You were over there.' Akashi said, pointing over to where Murasakibara was just standing.

'Well, I wasn't paying attention when I heard Kuro-chin call your name. But I also never heard Kuro-chin sound so scared, so I looked over and saw Aka-chin falling. When we walked down the stairs there were so many people on the stairs that we got pushed around, so I was pretty close, but I still had to lunge...' Murasakibara explained. 'Muro-chin once told me that if you fell down these stairs you could break your neck. And I didn't want Aka-chin to break his neck.' He added with a nod.

'Akashi-kun! Are you okay?' Kuroko said, thumping down the stairs. 'What the heck happened?'

Akashi shook his head. 'I... just tripped, that's all'. He looked away from the smaller boy, he didn't want Kuroko to see through his lie.

'Oh my God! You could have died! I was so worried!' Kise yelled, also running down the stairs. 'Are you okay?'

Akashi nodded to both Kise and Kuroko. 'I'm fine, thank you.' He pulled away from Murasakibara and was instantly grabbed by Kuorko.

'I was so worried. I thought you were going to hurt yourself.' Kuroko said, pulling Akashi into a hug.

Kise ran over and joined the hug. 'I'm also glad you're alright, Akashi-chii~!' He said, crushing them both.

Midorima pushed his glasses up, his face was also pale. 'That was quite the scare, Akashi. I never took you for someone who would... trip. Especially down a long flight of stairs.' He said, giving Akashi hard look.

Akashi shook his head slightly. Indicating that Midorima needed to stop asking questions. Midorima must have gotten the hint, because he said nothing further.

Aomine also said nothing, he just stared at Akashi, his face slightly pale. But there was something strange in the way his face looked, it wasn't scared, but annoyed?

Akashi pushed Kise and Kuroko off, 'Can we go now? I don't really want to stand here anymore.'

Kise nodded, 'Let's go, poor Akashi-chii almost dies and we just stand here and talk about it.'

They all nodded and started down the stairs again.

Akashi leaned over to Kuroko and whispered, 'Is it good that he's calling me Akashi-chii?'

Kuroko nodded, he grabbed Akashi's hand and smiled warmly. 'It means that he likes you, just like with Murasakibara-kun.'

'So, To make friends all I have to do is fall down the stairs? Great, now I know what I've been doing wrong.' Akashi said, shaking his head.

'I don't care how many people become your friends. Just please don't fall down anymore stairs.' Kuroko asked, squeezing Akashi's hand.

'I promise.' Akashi replied, squeezing his hand back.

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Well, that's all, I hope you guys liked it! Feel free to tell me what you think!


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